No.10: The library catalogue
- About the catalogue
- Search
- My Details
- Journals
- My book list
- How to search directly from your browser
About the catalogue
Books (print and online), video and audio cassettes, statistics, and reports are all included in the catalogue. Select the 'Journals' tab to view the complete list of print and online journals.
Search
Options:
- Basic
- General keyword
- Title keyword or alphabetical
- Author keyword or alphabetical
- Subject keyword or alphabetical
- Series keyword or alphabetical
- Advanced
- Combinations of different fields. For example: search for Title keywords "health policy" and Author browse "gardner".
- Limit the search to fields such as publisher, edition, or to a certain collection.
- Sort results by title, author, or publication date.
Online books
See Fact Sheet no.9 "Accessing online journals and books" for more details. You may be prompted for your library barcode or a user name and password when accessing these resources off site. Contact the library for details.
Search history
Shows the searches conducted in the current session. Searches can be re-run or edited.
Truncation
Use a question mark (?) to truncate search terms. For example: neonat? will return results containing neonatal, neonates, neonatology etc.
Sorting and limiting
After conducting a search, a list of items is shown, with options to:
- Sort by title, author, or publication date.
- Limit to fields such as publisher, edition, or to a certain collection.
- Show the details of the item.
- Add items to your book list, for printing or saving.
- Search for more items by the same author.
- Place a hold on an item whose status is "On Loan".
Select a title from the list to see:
- Full details of the item, including edition information.
- Assigned subject headings; select the subject heading to view more items on that subject.
- Copy information, including location within the library, and availability.
My Details
Submit the barcode from the back of your library card when prompted to:
- See and renew currently checked out items.
- Check if "hold" items are ready to be picked up or waiting to become available.
- See your patron profile.
Journals
This tab links to the complete list of print and online journals. See Fact Sheet no.9 "Accessing online journals and books" for more details.
My book list
Create a saved list of items from your search results. You can view and sort the list, add or remove items, and save the list for future reference.
From your first saved list, you can create more saved lists. For example, you might keep a list of your favourite reference books, and one related to your specialty subject.
Use Manage book lists to create a new list, move items between lists, and rename or delete lists.
How to search directly from your browser
A search 'plugin' or 'provider' allows you to access a search engine or database right from your browser, without having to go to the website first. In Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 you use the search box at the top of the browser window. If you use Internet Explorer 6 you can use an alternative method. If you use Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5, this won't work for you, and you might want to upgrade to a better browser.
There are hundreds of search engine plugins, including many health related such as Centers for Disease Control, Medline Plus, and Cancerweb's medical dictionary.
Search plugins are the quickest way to search, so we have created two for the library catalogue. Get more information and download the plugins.