MCLS Online Catalog Help

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Overview
Recommended Web Browser Software
How to Search
      Search Types
        Limiting Options
Search Tips
Search Results
Title List
        Sorting
        Printing the Title List
Full Record
        Additional Links
        Available Copies
        Placing a Hold on an Item
Review Search History
Saving and Printing Records
Branch Information
Journal Title Availability
Personal List Manager
        Saving Your Personal List to Disk
        Placing Holds on Multiple Items in Your List
        Printing Your Personal List
Patron Information (Items Checked Out, Overdue, Lost, Holds, Fines)
        Renewing Checked Out Items
        Canceling a Hold
Patron Placed Holds
 

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Overview

The MCLS Online Catalog is a graphical user interface which gives you access to your library catalog and enables you to view your library card information, such as items checked out, items placed on hold or overdue, fines, etc.

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Recommended Web Browser Software

The MCLS Online Catalog works best with:

• Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or higher
• Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher

Support is not guaranteed for beta release versions of these browsers.  Support for co-branded versions of Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer is not guaranteed.  Using other browsers may result in error messages, formatting problems, or reduced functionality.

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How to Search

The Basic Search Page lets you construct a search.  Enter the word or words and click the "Search" button.  The default search is keyword.

You may also select a search category from the drop down search type box, located beneath the search edit box.

 The MCLS Online Catalog is not "case sensitive."  You may use upper or lower case letters.
 

Search Types

A description of the search types is listed below.  If you do not choose a search type, the system defaults to a keyword search.  The search type options are:

Keyword:  If you are unsure of the exact title or subject, type key words.  You may type one word, or several words in any order.  The result will be a list of titles which contain your keywords.  The additional options of limiting by format, language and/or date are only valid in author or keyword searches.

Author or Name:  Type in author or editor names in any order to find works by an author, performer, composer, actor, or musician.  Authors and names may be either personal or corporate: William Faulkner or Eastman Kodak Company.

Author or Name Browse:  Use this search to browse an alphabetical listing of name headings.  For personal names, type last name first, a comma, a space, then the first name, i.e., Grisham, John.  For corporate names, type the name in direct order.  The result will be a list of name headings beginning at, or closest to, the name you typed.  Names containing apostrophes (e.g. O'Donnell, Chris) must include the punctuation for correct placement within the browse.

Name/Keyword Search:  Authors or names can be combined with titles or subjects in a single search.  The search must be formatted as name/word (e.g., stephen king/shining or sondheim/broadway).

Title Browse (omit A, An, The):  If you know the exact title, type it in.  Do not include leading articles (a, an, the) in any language.  Most punctuation does not have to be included within the title.  If you are uncertain about the exact title, use a keyword or title word(s) search.

Title Word(s):  You may type one or more words from the title in any order.  Use this search if you are unsure of word order.

Subjects:  Type words from subject headings in any order.  Use this search if you are unsure of word order.  The result will be a list of subject headings that contain your subject words.

Subject/Keyword Subject:  Type words or names from subject headings in any order.  The result will be a list of titles containing the words or names you entered in one or more subject headings.  Use this search to find works about a person or a subject.

Series Browse:  Use this search to find titles which are published as part of a series.  Type in as much of the series title as you know, i.e., Sunset Books.  Exclude the leading article (a, an, the) in all languages.  The result will be a list of titles that contain series headings beginning at, or closest to, the first word you typed.

Series/Keyword Search:  Type words from series headings in any order.  Use this search to find titles which are published as part of a series.

ISBN/ISSN Search:  Type the ISBN with no spaces or the ISSN in the form 0000-0000.

Call Number Browse:  If you want to search the collection as it is shelved, type in as much of the call number as you know.  Call numbers should be spaced as they appear on the books, videos, etc., and include any decimal points, i.e., 796.252 J665.  The result will be a list of titles beginning at, or closest to, the call number you typed.

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Limiting Options

Limit by branch and availability:  You can limit your search to include only items that are available at a particular branch.  After entering your search word(s), click on the button labeled Limit by branch and availability.  Select the desired branch (click the radio button next to the branch name).  Additionally, this screen allows you to limit your search further by choosing to show only items that are available (i.e.--not checked out) at the selected branch.  To do so, click the radio button next to "Yes".

Limit by branch and availability will only work with a Keyword or Author search.

Material Type and Language Limiting:  You can limit your search by including "material type", e.g. Audiocassette, Large Print.  

To find the videorecording of "Gone with the Wind", enter gone wind as the search term, scroll down and click the "Limit by material type" field and choose Video.  Now click the Search button next to your search terms.

To find books on tape by Anne Tyler, enter anne tyler as the search term, choose Author or Name in the search type field in the author field, scroll down and click the "Limit by material type" field and choose Audiocassette.  Now click the Search button next to your search terms.

To find children’s math books written in Spanish, enter mathematics as the search term, scroll down to Limit by material type and choose Child, then Limit by Language and choose Spanish.  Now click on the Search button next to your search term.

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By narrowing your searches to 500 items or less, you may sort results.  Try 2 or 3 search terms that best describe your search, or try some of the methods described below:

1. Most search options can be done using these shortcuts:

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2. To limit using language or material type shortcuts:

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3. Truncation:

You may use a question mark ? with part of a subject or name to expand the search by a specific number of characters.  The ? wildcard character can be appended to the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a word.

5. Expand your search by using OR between search terms:

6. Narrow your search by using the words AND or BUT NOT:

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7. Date limiting:

You may use proximity and adjacency operators to specify how close your search words are to each other, and in what order.  These operators will work for title keyword, subject keyword, series keyword, and author or name keyword searches only.

The (w) operator specifies that words must be next to each other (adjacent) and in the order specified.

The (#w) or (w#) operator specifies that words must be separated by no more than the chosen number of words, e.g., five words apart or (5w) or (w5), and in the order specified.  The (w) operator may be preceded or followed by a number from 1-99.

The (n) operator specifies that words must be adjacent, but in any order.

The (#n) or (n#) operator specifies that words be separated by no more than the specified number of words, e.g., five words apart, or (5n) or (n5).  The words can appear in any order.  The (n) operator may be preceded or followed by a number from 1-99.

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Search Results

If you have entered a search and picked Select a search type - (optional) from the drop down search types box, the Results page will present you with a list of matches resulting from each index searched (such as keyword, author, name and subject).  You will also be given the ability to display titles, subjects and names beginning with your search term.  The following is an example using "Erie Canal':

Database: Public Libraries in Monroe County, NY

202 Keyword matches
7 Author or name matches
46 Subject matches

Browse titles beginning with "Erie canal"
Browse subjects beginning with "Erie canal"
Browse names beginning with "Erie canal"
 

You may click on the Keyword, Author, or Subject matches link, which will take you to the Title List page, or you may click on any of the Browse links to go to the respective index for browsing.

NOTE:  If your search term did not retrieve results in the Keyword, Author, or Subject indexes, you will not see matches links on the results page.

You may change your search or database by clicking on New Search or Change Database in the upper right corner.

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Title List

The Title List displays the titles of your results.  From this page, you may View the Full Record, Sort the Title List, activate the Personal List Manager feature, Review Search History, View Your Account, or Display checked records from this page.

To view the Full Record of an individual title, click on the highlighted link.
 

The Title List is usually displayed newest to oldest order.  If your retrieval set is less than 500, you may also choose to sort your list by author, title, call number, date, or original order.

Clicking on the Display checked records this page (assuming you have checked boxes next to some or all of the titles on the page) displays the Full Records for the checked titles continuously on one page.

You may change your search by editing the search terms or search type listed at the bottom of the page or start a new search by clicking on New Search or Change Database in the upper right corner.

Printing the Title List

To print the Title List page (which contains up to ten titles), click on your browser Print button at the top of the page.  If you want to print a list longer than the page displayed, use the Personal List Manager.

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Full Record

To view the Full Record, click on the highlighted title link.

To view another record from the Full Record page, either return to the Title List to select another Title, or click on the Next or Previous link at the top or bottom of the page to take you to the next or previous Full Record.

From the Full Record page, you may go Back to List, view Where To Find It, Place Hold(s), activate the Personal List Manager, Review Search History, Save record(s) to disk, or View Your Account.

You may change your search or database by clicking on New Search or Change Database in the upper right corner.

To print or save Full Records, see Saving and Printing Records.

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Additional Links

Most Full Records have links to enable you to look at other records which have a common element with the Full Record.  For example, you may find links in the Name field, the Author field, the Subjects field, the Other Entries field, etc.  Clicking on one of these links will initiate a browse or a search on that index.

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Where To Find It

Where to Find It information is listed at the bottom of the Full Record page.

Click on the Where to Find It  button on the upper left side of the Full Record page to go to the list of locations that own a copy of the title, and to see how many of those copies are available.  Available copies are those with a status of Not Checked Out.

Clicking on the highlighted branch name next to the Available Copies information will take you to a new page with pertinent information about the particular branch, such as its address and phone number.

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Placing a Hold on an Item

Monroe County Library System cardholders may place a hold on an item by clicking the Place Hold(s) button on the left side of the Full Record page.  For more information, see Patron Placed Holds.

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Review Search History

You may review the searches you have entered during your current session by clicking on Review Search History, which appears on the Title List and Full Record pages.  Your Search History will be listed within each database in the order searched.  You may click on any of these links to reinitiate a previous search.

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Saving and Printing Records

There are three ways to save and print records:

1. To print a single Full Record, view it on the Full Record page and click on your browser Print button at the top of the page.
   
   To print the Full Record, without printing the banner or navigation tools to the left of the screen, click Display Print Version; then, select Print.  Click on Return to Full Record to return to the previous screen.

 

2. To print or save 1-10 Full Records which appear on the same Title List:

3. To print or save 10 or more Full Records from one database, or combined records from more than one database, see Personal List Manager.

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Branch Information

By clicking a highlighted branch name link on the Full Record page, you will arrive at the Branch Information page.  This page provides pertinent information about a specific branch of your library such as its address and phone number.  To go back to the Full Record, click on the Return to Full Record button.

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Journal Issue Availability

On a Full Record screen for a magazine or other serial, you will see the Summary Holding Information which includes libraries and issues retained.  If individual issues are available for circulation, details will be displayed under Where to find it.
 

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Personal List Manager

The Personal List Manager enables you to capture and store your search results in two different formats.  Once you have placed your selected records on your Personal List, you may save them as a file on diskette or your personal computer's hard drive, print them, or place holds on items from your list.

From the Title List, you may select specific records by clicking on the checkbox to the left of each title, and then clicking Add checked records from this page to list.  You may also add ALL the titles on the Title List by clicking  Add all records from this page to list.  You may cumulatively add a maximum of 500 records to your Personal List during a session in the MCLS Online Catalog session.

After you have selected and added the titles to be stored in your Personal List, you may click on View personal list.  From this page you may go Back to list, Sort results, Delete all records, Delete checked records, Place hold(s), or Save record(s) to disk.

The titles you select from various searches during one session of the MCLS Online Catalog will all be added to the same list.  This feature enables you to add Records from various databases to one Personal List.  You may Delete from your list at any time.

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Saving Your Personal List to Disk

After you have selected the Records you want on your Personal List, click on View personal list.  To save your records electronically, click on Save Record(s) to Disk on the left side of the Personal List Manager - Title List page.  On the Personal List - Save to Disk page, click on the following selections:

Record Type: Title List or Full Records
Record Format: Plain Text or HTML Format

For efficiency in processing, records are downloaded from the database provider in sequential groups of 10.  After each group is downloaded, you will be given the opportunity to download 10 more.  Each group of 10 will append to the previous group so that all of the downloaded records will be saved to one file.

After you click on Click here to stop and save the downloaded records to disk, a browser-generated window entitled Unknown File Type will appear.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT CLICK on More Info or Pick App, as these selections do not relate to the  MCLS Online Catalog.
DO CLICK on Save File (or Cancel if you have changed your mind about saving).

A Save As window will appear.  Save as you normally would save a file in a Windows or Macintosh application.  The default file name will be records.txt (plain text file, no diacritics or special features) or records.html.

After you click on Click here to stop and save the downloaded records to disk, your record(s) will be displayed as a page in your browser.  Click on the File drop down menu at the top of the screen, select Save as, and save as you normally would save a file in a Windows or Macintosh application.  The default file name will be records.txt (plain text file, no diacritics or special features) or records.html.

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Placing Holds On Multiple Items In Your Personal List

After you have selected the Records you would like on your Personal List, click on View list.  To place holds on multiple items at once, click on the box next to each item on the list, then click Place hold(s) on the left side of the Personal List Manager - Title List page.

This is a convenient way of securing a large number of items that may not be immediately available.  For the Patron Placed Holds function, you must have a library card in good standing.  For more information on how to place holds, see Patron Placed Holds.

After providing the necessary information and clicking the Place Hold(s) button, a confirmation screen will appear.  The confirmation screen will let you know whether or not your holds were successfully placed, your place in the holds queue (i.e., how many people have a hold placed on each item before you), and the number of holdable copies of each item.  If a hold may not be placed on any item(s), you will get a message indicating why and be instructed to contact library staff.

NOTE:  This feature will not work for items from other databases.

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Printing Your Personal List

To print one page of your Personal List - Title List:  view the page, and click your browser's Print button at the top of the page.

To print one Full Record from your Personal List:  view the page, and click your browser's Print button at the top of the page.

To print one page of Full Records (including holdings):  click View these full records.  Full records 1 through 10 will display.  Select your browser's Print button at the top of the page.

To print the entire Title List or the Full Records from your Personal List:  save the Personal List to disk (see Saving Your Personal List to Disk) and print the file after it is saved.

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Patron Information

(Items Checked Out, Overdue, Lost, Holds, Fines)

From your library's home page, click on Patron Information.  Enter the information requested on the Patron Validation page.  You will then be taken to the Patron Information Summary page.  Click on any of the available links for summary information on items checked out, overdue, lost, holds, or fines.  Links on these summary pages will lead to additional pages containing detail on each item (in particular, see Renewing Checked Out Items and Canceling a Hold).

Note: You may also access your patron information by clicking on the View my account button.  The View my account button is found on the basic and advanced search pages, title list, full record and hold confirmation pages.  Checking the box next to Remember my login information retains your library card number and last name for the length of your session.

Click the Exit button at the top of the page to return to your library's home page.

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Renewing Checked Out Items

To renew items that you have previously checked out, click the Checked out link on the Patron Information Summary page.  This link will take you to a summary of all the items you currently have checked out.  From the Checked Out Summary screen, you may click the Renew all items button to renew all of your checked out items, or select several titles from the list and click Renew selected items.  To see more detail on a particular item, click on a title link to go to a Checked Out Detail screen.  From there, you may click on the Renew this item button to renew.  A confirmation screen will appear to confirm your renewal.

Canceling a Hold

If you have placed a hold on an item and have decided that you no longer need the item to be held, click the Hold summary button on the Patron Information Summary page.  This link will take you to a summary of all the items that you currently have on hold.  Click on the title of the hold item that you want to cancel to go to the Holds Detail screen.  On this page, click the Cancel this hold button.  A confirmation screen will appear to confirm your cancellation.

NOTE: If you are having trouble gaining access to your patron information, we would recommend clearing the cache in your browser.  If you are using Internet Explorer, go into "Tools" and "Internet Options", and then click on "Delete Files" under "Temporary Internet Files".  If you are using Netscape, go into "Edit" and "Preferences", click on "Advanced Category", select "Cache", and click on the "Clear Disk Cache" button.

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Patron Placed Holds

For the Patron Placed Holds function, you must have a library card in good standing for your library.

Follow the hold prompts, entering your library card number and last name, selecting a branch where you would like to pick up the hold, and specifying a date before or after which you no longer need the item.

After providing the necessary information, click the Place Hold(s) button.  A confirmation screen will appear, indicating whether or not the hold was successfully placed.  It may also notify you of your place in the holds queue (i.e., how many people have a hold placed on the item before you), and the number of holdable copies of the item.  If a hold may not be placed, you will get a message indicating why and be instructed to contact library staff.

To view your library account, you may click on the View my account button.  From here, you will be able to cancel your hold (see Canceling a Hold).

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Last updated: 3/2011