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Using the Online Catalog
--- Catalog Tutorial ---
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Catalog Home Page
Search Tab
Patron Account Tab
Help Tab
Online Tutorial
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How Do I...?
New Features
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Access the Catalog
Type http://ipac.bcslibrary.org/polaris in the address bar, or go to the library's home
page (http://www.bcslibrary.org), and click on
any of the catalog links in the left column (Card Catalog -- View Your Account --
Holds and Renewals).
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Search
- Keyword:
- Looks for matches to your word(s) anywhere and in any order. You can also use wildcard characters
(? for one character and * for two or more characters) to widen your search.
- Browse:
- Looks for items that begin with a specific word or phrase in the title, author, subject, or series
fields.
- Phrase:
- Looks for matches to your words in the same order you typed them.
- Advanced:
- Allows you to search multiple fields at once.
- Boolean:
- Uses specific search commands (AND, OR, and NOT) to search multiple fields at
once (similar to the Advanced search).
Ex. 1: You are looking for the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but can only remember
that the title contains the words "mice" and "men," and the author's last name is Steinbeck. You can
use the Advanced search as shown below.
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Use the Search Options Button
To narrow your search, click on the Open Search Option link from almost any search screen. This
allows you to limit the search by the owning library, publication date, type of material, target
audience, and language of material as well as change the number of results displayed per page.
To highlight two or more choices per section, hold down the CTL (CONTROL) key while clicking on
each entry. This is shown in the example below.
Ex. 2: You want a list of all juvenile Spanish items at the Larry J. Ringer Library published in 2006
and 2007. Click on "Larry J. Ringer Library" in the Libraries box, "2006" and "2007" in the
Publication Dates box, "Juvenile" in the Target Audience box, and "Spanish" in the
Languages box. Then click on the Perform Search button. You can reset the limits by
clicking on the Reset button.
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View the Results List
Ex. 3: You are looking for items on learning how to knit. Type "knitting" in the Keyword search box,
and click the Go! button. Note: Searching by keyword will retrieve any items with the word
"knitting."
The first result is displayed below. To check the status of the book, click on the Availability
link.
The Item Availability section shows you the status of each copy owned by the library system. If an
item is checked out, it will also display the due date.
- Search Tab: Performs various types of searches.
- Patron Account Tab: Allows you to access/view your library
account.
- Help Tab: Answers a list of frequently asked questions.
- Tutorial: Step-by-step instructions on performing a search.
Back to Main Catalog Page
Back to About Us
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