Opac Search Tips 2009

CHOOSE THE BEST SEARCH STRATEGY
title search:- you must know the first words of the title
author search: - you must know author’s last name
subject search: - if you have a specific term - if you want to see the alphabetical subject index

A KEYWORD IS…..
a significant word used in indexing
A significant word from a title or document
An unusual word, a less common word, a specific word, an author’s first name…..

KEYWORD SEARCHES:
perform broad, general searches in databases and search engines
have the potential to find large amounts of unrelated information or sites
should use specific or unique terms to avoid information overload!

KEYWORD SEARCHING THE LIBRARY CATALOG (“OPAC”)
looks in four places on every record:
Title index
Author index
Subject indexes
Notes field of the catalog record
is usually the default search if you choose the “enter” key

Beyond the Basics
“ Power” / “Advanced” / “Boolean” searches are powerful keyword searches which are available in all electronic databases
Search terms are combined by using specific “operators” – AND, OR and NOT – to streamline results
AND - all terms must be in the record
OR - any of the search terms are acceptable
NOT - only some of the terms are acceptable

Sample Searches
POWER icon is the library catalog option
Each operator will give a very different result for the same search
Atwood AND criticism -> 15 hits
Results have both words on every record
Atwood OR criticism -> 571 hits
Results have at least one of these two words on every record
Atwood NOT criticism -> 30 hits
All results contain the word Atwood; none have the word criticism

TROUBLESHOOTING
TRY CHECKING YOUR SPELLING
try a synonym for your original term
try a more general term or a more specific term
try using only one or two words for your search

CALL NUMBERS: the mystery!
A call number is simply a combination
of numbers and / or letters that
describe where to find a resource in a
library.

CALL NUMBERS USE A COMBINATION OF :
LOCATION CODES
DEWEY DECIMAL NUMBERS
AUTHOR / TITLE CODES

Reference and Non-fiction
Are classified using the Dewey Decimal system, so
they always have a number code and author or title code
Reference books have REF or REF SET as a location code (the reference section is located in the middle of the library by the window)
Non-fiction is located on the tall shelves at the back of the library
For instance:
Non-fiction call number:
909.82 JAN
Reference call number:
REF 909.82 JAN

Fiction
Fiction is not classified by Dewey Decimal
numbers, so does not have a number code.
Fiction is alphabetized by author’s last name.
Fiction material is found in the back left hand corner of the library. Check out the new fiction on the table by the circulation desk.

Fiction call numbers
FIC + author code
Fully alphabatized
SC + author code
Anthology collection

Other odd location codes
ENG
SOC
SOC AP
VHS
DVD
Sorry! Any material with these location codes is for teacher use only.

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Opac Search Tips 2009

by Kelly Reierson

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