Searching the Catalog

To view and modify all search preferences from the Staff Catalog page, select Search Preferences, which is located to the right of the search form below the location selector. The Search Preferences page opens in the Staff Catalog.

You may modify the following preferences: Default Search Library, Preferred Library, Default Search Pane, Search Results Per Page, and Exclude Electronic Resources.

Changes to these preferences are saved automatically. Select Return at the bottom-left of the Search Preferences page to go back to your catalog search.

Default Search Library: The selected option will be the default search library for any Staff Catalog searches conducted on the workstation. Manual selection of a library on the Staff Catalog page will override this selection.

Preferred Library: Available copies, owned copies, and URIs will be displayed for the selected library, regardless of the library searched.

Default Search Pane: The selected option will display by default when you open a new Staff Catalog page. You may set this to Keyword Search, Numeric Search, MARC Search, Browse, or Shelf Browse.

Search Results Per Page: Select the number of search results to display per page.

Exclude Electronic Resources: Checking this checkbox adds the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox to the search form on the Staff Catalog page. Learn more about the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox in the Search Checkboxes section.

The Library Selector is located in the top-right corner of the search form on the Staff Catalog page. This selector allows you to change your search library to the consortium, system, branch, or other organization of your choice.

To change your search library, select the text box to the left of the Search button and make your selection from the dropdown menu. Then, select Search to begin your search.

You may also enter the short name of the library you wish to search directly into the text box. For example, to select Branch 2 from the menu pictured above, you may simply enter "BR2" into the text box.

Your library selection will stay until you leave the Staff Catalog page. Then, it will reset to the workstation’s default search library.

There are three options to limit your keyword search: Format, Catalog Field, and Matching.

Format: Make a selection from the Format dropdown menu to specify what type of item you are seeking. Some options for format include: All Books, All Music, All Videos, Braille, DVD, Large Print Book, and Microform.

Catalog Field: Make a selection from the Catalog Field dropdown menu to specify which bibliographic fields you wish to search. You may select Keyword, Title, Journal Title, Author, Subject, or Series.

Matching: Make a selection from the Matching menu to specify how strictly the search should treat your search terms. You may choose from the following options:

To add an additional search row, select the plus sign (+) to the right of the Search Terms text box. A new search row appears below the first.

The new search row will search the same format as that selected on the first search row.

Additional search rows are joined to preceding search rows with the Boolean operators And or Or, which may be selected in the Join with menu to the left of the additional search row.

To delete a search row, select the minus sign (-) to the right of the row you wish to delete.

Filters let you refine your search beyond the options available in the search row.

Access the filters by selecting the three stacked dots to the right of the search row. The filters appear at the bottom of the search form.

The options available in each filter depend on the library selected in the Library Selector. The available filters are: Item Type, Form, Language, Audience, Video Format, Bibliographic Level, Literary Form, and Shelving Location.

To add a filter, select the desired term from the list in the filter. The selected term will be highlighted and the filter will be applied when you run the search. Use the scroll bar in each filter to view more options.

To remove a filter, select the first term in the filter’s list that begins with All and is followed by the name of the filter. For example, to remove the Form filter, select All Item Forms.

To remove all filters, select the Reset button in the top-right corner of the search form.

To filter by publication year, first select an option from the dropdown menu to the right of "Publication Year is" at the bottom of the search form. You may select Is, Before, After, or Between. If you select Between, an additional text box will appear to the right of the existing text box.

Then, enter the publication year or years in the text box or text boxes to the right of the dropdown menu.

Search results can be sorted by relevance, title (A to Z or Z to A), author (A to Z or Z to A), publication date (newest to oldest or oldest to newest), or popularity (most to least popular or popularity adjusted relevance). By default, searches are sorted by relevance.

To change the sorting method before your search, select an option from the Sort Results dropdown menu located below the search row.

To change the sorting method of a search you have already started, select an option from the Sort Results dropdown menu, then select Search in the top-right corner to apply your selection.

Three checkboxes appear on the Keyword Search pane by default. If the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox is selected on the workstation’s Search Preferences, the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox will also appear.

Depending on the size of your browser window, these checkboxes appear to the right of or below the Sort Results dropdown menu, at the bottom of the search form.

The checkboxes appear in the order listed below. The described behavior applies when the box is checked (selected).

Limit to Available: Results will be limited to items with a status of Available or Reshelving.

Group Formats/Editions: Results of the same title with different formats or editions will be combined into a single result.

Results from All Libraries: Results may come from any library in the highest level of your catalog, usually a consortium or system. Checking this box overrides any conflicting workstation Search Preferences and any selection in the Library Selector.

Exclude Electonic Resources: Results will not include any electronic format, such as e-books. If this checkbox is not visible, check the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox on the Search Preferences page.