Tips and Tricks for searching the catalog!

The goal of the catalog is to reduce the need for 'advanced' search techniques that may be less accessible to typical library users. 

Search Types

The default search is set to "by Keyword" and "in Library Catalog". The majority of users will search this way and find what they need. But, there are other search options available if needed.

Patrons can search by:

  • Keyword
    • The keyword search (default search) searches all MARC fields from 010 to 899.
  • Title
  • Start of Title
    • Start of Title and Articles: If you start with a search like Librarian then it will show titles like “Librarian” and “The Librarian” but if you start your search with The Librarian, it is not going to show you “Librarian”. 
  • Series
  • Author
  • Subject
  • Call Number
  • Advanced Search

Sort By

By default, search results will be set to Sort by "Best Match". This is based on the catalog's relevancy algorithm and is looking to return the most relevant or "Best Match" for that search.

Other sort by areas include:

  • Publication Year Desc - Sorts the newest publication dates to the top.
    • If there are multiple publication dates, it will choose the earliest date
  • Publication Year Asc - Sorts the oldest publication dates to the top
  • Author
  • Title
  • Date Purchased Desc - Sorts newly acquired items to the top
    • For Libby records that are not on order, The catalog is looking at the Date added
  • Call Number - Sorts by the call number field 
  • Total Checkouts 
  • User Rating
  • Number of Holds

Format Icons

Format icons appear at the top of the search results and represent a group of like formats.

The Format categories are:

  • Books
  • eBook
  • Audio Books
  • Music
  • Movies
  • Other (not represented with an icon)

These icons correspond to the grouped work formats in the catalog and multiple item types can make up one grouped work format icon.

For example:

  • Books would contain formats such as Large Print, Board Books, and New Books.
  • eBook would contain formats such as e-book and e-audio from Hoopla, Libby, and ComicsPlus.
  • Music would contain formats such as music CDs and e-audio.
  • Movies would contain e-movies, DVDs, VHS, and Blu-rays.

Search Toggles

There are four possible Search toggles.

By default, they are:

  • Entire Collection: Physical materials and eContent from all included locations.
  • *Local Collection: Physical or eContent materials that are owned by that library only. *This option is only available when searching within a specific library's catalog. 
  • Available Now: Physical or eContent materials that are available now (not checked out).
  • Available Online: Content that is only available in a digital format online. 

Search Tools

The available Search Tools for patrons are:

  • Save Search
    • Patrons can save a search to be managed in Account > Saved Searches
  • Email this Search
  • Get RSS Feed
  • Export to CSV
    • A way to export search results. Search results are limited to 1,000 per download.