Online Catalog
Help
When searching the iPac catalog, you are actually searching all
libraries in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC). If
Gleason owns the item you are looking for, Location and Status will
appear under the title.
iPac offers three methods of searching the entire catalog:
The system’s default is the Basic search.
In addition one may perform searches restricted to audiobooks,
videos, or music.
See also help for
Doing a Basic search
Basic search lets you search all MVLC library catalogs by a single
author, title, or subject keyword.
Note: From the Welcome page, you can enter an author name, title
or subject keyword in the Search field.
To do a Basic search
1. Click the Search tab.
2. Choose the search index you want to use from the Search drop-down
menu.
3. Enter the search term that you want to use in the Search field.
| Tip: You can also search for items using
a "wildcard" symbol of an asterisk (*). A wildcard
is a symbol that represents one or more unknown characters.
It may be used at the end or in the middle of a word.
For example, if you wanted to search for all the authors
whose last name begins with the prefix "steven",
you would enter "steven*" as the search criteria.
iPac would return results from authors named "Stevens",
"Stevenson", "Stevensen", etc.
If you were unsure of the spelling of a name Steven vs. Stephen,
you would enter "ste*en" as the search criteria. |
4. Click Go.
iPac returns a list of results based on the search criteria you
entered. For more information on how to understand your search results,
see Interpreting your search results.
Doing an Advanced search
Advanced search lets you refine your search by entering more criteria
than you can use with the Basic search. Advanced search also lets
you limit your search by applying pre-defined limits and lets you
sort your search results by specific criteria.
To do an Advanced search
1. Click the Search tab.
2. Click the Advanced link below the Search tab.
3. Enter your search terms in one or more of the fields provided.
(Your list of search results will be smaller as you enter more
information.)
| Tip: You can also search for items using
a "wildcard" symbol of an asterisk (*) for unkown
characthers. |
4. If you want to use a pre-defined limit, choose a limiting option
from the Limits drop-down list.
5. If you want to define your own limits, choose a limit type and
operator, then enter the limiting value under User Defined Limits.
6. Choose the sorting option that you want from the Sorting drop-down
list.
7. Click Go.
iPac returns a list of results based on the search criteria you
entered. For more information on how to understand your search results,
see Interpreting your search results.
Doing a Starts with/Browse search
The Browse search lets you browse the catalog by various title
types, author, and subject in alphabetical order. This search is
more restrictive and precise than a Basic search.
Note: When doing an author search, be sure to enter it last name
first.
To do a Browse search
1. Click the Search tab and click on Starts with / Browse.
2. Choose the search index you want to use from the Search drop-down
menu.
3. Enter the search term that you want to use in the Search field.
| Tip: When browse searching, you must
have the information you input be in the correct order. If
you are unsure of the exact title or author name, MVLC recommends
keyword searching instead. |
4. Click Go.
Interpreting your search results
After performing a Basic, Advanced, or Starts With/Browse search,
iPac returns a list of library items that match the search criteria
you entered. For each library item, iPac displays specific information
such as the item's title, author, publisher, publication date, call
number, and status.
| Tip: If your search returns only a single
item, iPac displays detailed information about the item rather
than first displaying the item in a summary list. |
After your search results are returned, you can:
- Sort your search results.
- Limit your search results.
- View information for a specific item.
- Request an item.
- E-mail your search results.
- Add an item to My List.
For a complete explanation of all these features and functions
of the iPac system, when in iPac click on the User’s Guide
guide icon in the upper right-hand corner for context-sensitive
help.
Glossary:
Starts with... -- provides you with a list of headings in alphabetical
order that match or closely match your search phrase
Call Number -- shows the shelf location of the item.
Holdings -- will show you the libraries that own the item, the
Collection, Call Number and the Status of each item.
Keyword -- retrieves material which matches the words in your search
phrase wherever those words appear in the information about the
item. Keyword searches can match words anywhere in the record or
be restricted to certain parts of the record, i.e., title, author,
subject
Limiting -- allows you to limit your search results by the format
of the material, the language or the location that owns it. You
may make more than one choice from the limit box. To choose more
than one, make your first selection and then hold down the Control
key on your keyboard while clicking on the next selection.
Location -- is the library that owns the item.
Search Results -- shows you brief information about the titles
that match your search terms or the heading you selected. Titles
with the most recent publication dates appear first. To see detailed
information about a title (including which libraries own it), click
on the title itself.
Status -- gives you information about the shelf status of the item.
Common statuses are:
- Checked in - the item is on shelf
- Checked out - the item is checked out. Due Date tells
when it is due back at the library.
- Transit - means the item is on its way back to the
owning library
- Transit Request- means the item is on its way to another
library to fill a request.
- Cataloging - means the item is being entered into the
catalog and is not yet available
- Lost - means the item is no longer available
- “Please See a Librarian” - means the library
does not circulate the item using the computer. Also, any circulation
status given in the catalog is potentially incorrect. You will
need to call the owning library directly to find out if an item
is actually on the shelf.
Can't connect to the catalog?
There will be times when the catalog will be unavailable due to
maintenance. Scheduled maintenance is performed briefly every Saturday
morning and Monday at 11:45 p.m. through Tuesday around 8:30 a.m.
If you are running Windows XP and IE 6 and are unable to log into
the system, you may not have the appropriate Jave plug-in. You must
have java enabled in your browser because iPac software loads with
a java applet.
If you have Internet Explorer choose Tools>Internet Options
and then click on the "Advanced Tab". In the Advanced
options, scroll down to Java VM and be sure that Java JIT compiler
enabled is checked.
If you have Netscape choose Edit>Preferences and then click
on "Advanced". In the Advanced box, be sure that Enable
Java is checked.
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