Searching the OPAC
Contents |
Basic searching
Unlike many OPACs, the search features of the Evergreen OPAC are pretty forgiving. For example:
- You do not have to enter an author’s last name first
- You do not need to know the exact title or subject heading
- You do not need to include punctuation
When entering search phrases, keep the following in mind:
- All search terms are joined by "and" by default. So, a search for harry potter is seen in the system as: harry and potter.
- Boolean operators such as and, or, not are searched for regularly and are not considered special. This means that and, or, not are searchable terms in Evergreen and are not used as Boolean operators.
- Phrase searching is accomplished by double-quoting the phrase. For example: “harry potter”.
- By default, search terms are stemmed. So, for example, a search for dogs will also return hits with the word dog.
In Michigan Evergreen, the default search is a keyword search on media of all types at the local library system where the user is logged in.
- 1. Using your most favorite web browser, log in to the Evergreen catalog using the URL assigned to your library catalog. For example, to access the Michigan Evergreen Training Catalog, the following URL would be used: http://training.michiganevergreen.org . You will be taken to the basic OPAC search page for patrons (the home search screen).
- 2. Beneath the search box, you can limit your search. In the first drop-down menu on the left, there are options to search by Keyword (the default), Title, Author, Subject or Series.
- 3. In the second drop-down menu, you can limit what type of format to search, there are options for All Formats (the default), Books, Large Print Books, E-books, Audiobooks, Video Recordings, Music Recordings and Electronic Resources.
- 4. You can also limit your search by library. You can search the local library system or choose specific libraries or branches. There is a link in the center the screen that says Choose a library to search. If you click on that link, the screen will refresh with a list of choices at the top left of the screen.
- 5. If you click on the folder by each library name, an expanded list of all the branches of each library will display. There are also options to Expand All (which would open all folders), Close All (closes all folders) or Cancel (which takes you back to the search page) at the top of the screen.
- 6. You can then select the location/locations that you want to search. For example, if Training System is selected, you will be able to search the Dora, Pesto, Rory and Sadie branches.
- 7. Notice that after you choose a library/branch to search, a drop-down menu is displayed in the middle. If you click on it, your choices are Local Library System, Everywhere (which will widen your search to all locations in the system, and Choose a different library… (which will refresh with the screen to choose a specific location again, as you did previously).
- 8. The Advanced Search link will take you to the advanced search page.
- 9. The My Account link will take you to a page allowing you to sign in to your account to place holds, renew books, view fines/bills, edit account details and create or manage bookbags.
Advanced searching
Advanced searching is initiated by clicking on Advanced Search at the bottom left of the home (default) search screen.
On the top left of the left hand sidebar are links to the Home (which would take you to the home search screen), Advanced Search, My Account (which would allow you to log in to your account) and Log in (which would allow you to log in to your account). On the bottom left of the screen are boxes for Quick Search and MARC Expert Search.
Quick Search
Quick Search enables you to search by ISBN, ISSN, Call Number, LCCN, TCN (system control number), or Item Barcode by choosing the preferred option from the drop-down menu, entering in the value, and clicking on the Submit button.
MARC Expert Search
MARC Expert Search enables you to search by entering the field tag number, subfield value (alphabetic or numeric), and the information/value contained in the subfield (e.g., Rowling for field 100, subfield a). After you enter in your values, click on the Submit button. It is also possible to add additional rows of search fields to the MARC Expert Search. You just need to click on the Add Row button. Click on Close under a row to remove any added rows.
It is possible to do a combined Quick Search and a MARC Expert Search.
Search Input
The center of the Advanced Search screen is where the majority of the the searching will be performed. Under Search Input, there are three rows available to enter in information to search. The options to search are by Keyword, Title, Author, Subject and Series. The limiting options in the second drop-down menu include Contains, Does not contain and Matches Exactly.
You can add search rows by clicking on the Add Search Row button and remove any rows by clicking on the "x" button of the row you want to remove. Reset Form will clear out any search terms already entered. After you enter in terms to search, the Submit Search button will execute the search.
Sort Criteria
The Advanced Search screen allows you to choose how you want your results sorted. In the Sort Criteria section, you have the option to sort by Relevance (the default), Title, Author or Publication Date. Sorting by Title, Author or Publication Date further allow you to sort your results by Ascending / A to Z or Descending / Z to A.
Below is the option to check the box next to Group Formats and Editions. When this option is checked and a search is performed, the system will automatically group together different formats (audiobooks, large print, video recordings) and editions of a specific title on the search results page.
Search Library
The library or branch that you are currently searching will be listed under Search Library. To change what branch/library/system you want to search, click on the drop-down menu below and select a location.
Below is the option to check the box next to Limit to Available. When this option is checked and a search is executed, the system will automatically only display items available for checkout.
Search Filters
On the right side of the Advanced Search screen are the Search Filters. You and your patrons can further narrow your search by Item Form, Item Type, Literary Form, Language, Audience, Bib Level and Publication Year.
Item Type, Literary Form, and Audience can be expanded further by clicking on the Advanced link below the name of the search filter. Clicking on these links will provide you and your patrons with specialized filters within the broader category. When the advanced filters are displayed, the Advanced link will actually change to Basic to allow you and your patrons to return to the basic filter options.
Clicking on Advanced changes the filters to:
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For Item Type:
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For Audience:
- Adolescent
- Adult
- General
- Juvenile
- Pre-adolescent
- Preschool
- Primary
- Specialized
- Unknown or unspecified
One further thing to note is that searches using Quick Search and MARC Expert Search are independent of the searches included in the main search fields (Search Input and Search Filters) and vice versa.
Search screen results
Searching for materials can also be accomplished from the search screen results. Search in the catalog, either using the basic or advanced search options to get to a search results screen.
Basic searching from the search results screen
Under Refine your search, relevant authors, subjects and series will be listed. You can click on any of those to further narrow your search.
At the top of the screen, there is a field with your search term(s) listed. To perform a different search, enter in your search terms and click on the Go! button.
There are two drop-down menus to the right that allow you to change your search from Keyword, Title, Author, Subject or Series and All Formats (the default), Books, Large Print Books, E-books, Audiobooks, Video Recordings, Music Recordings and Electronic Resources.
The third drop-down allows you to change which location is to be searched. Below that is another option to Limit to Available', which would limit the current search results to only available items. Next to that is a drop-down menu allowing you to choose how you want your current results to be sorted, whether by Relevance (the default), Title, Author or Publication Date. Sorting by Title, Author or Publication Date further allow you to sort your results alphabetically or by newest to oldest.
Advanced searching from the search results screen
If you click on the Advanced button at the top near the search box, a Classed Searches option opens allowing you to specify your search with a long list of options given on the drop-down menu. The limiting options in the second drop-down menu include Contains, Does not contain and Matches Exactly.
You can even adjust your search by clicking on the And or Or buttons, which would add more search rows preceded by those options. After you add any search rows, the Remove button would remove any row you didn't want. Go! would execute a search after you entered in search terms and the Basic button would take you back to the basic search view on your search results page.
The Record Summary
After a search is executed, to select a particular work, click on the title or the cover. You will be taken to an OPAC view of the record - the Record Summary. Note: if there is only one result from a search, the record summary will immediately open.
The left hand side of the screen remains the same, with the links to:
- Home
- Advanced Search
- My Account
- Log In
- My Title Results - which would take you back to your results
My Title Details has been added - which is the record summary/OPAC view of the record.
The top of the screen also remains the same, but without the options to sort your results or limit your results to available items. You and your patrons can change the values in these drop-down menus and add new search terms to perform new searches from this screen as well.
At the bottom of this display there can be 3-5 display tabs.
- Copy Summary (will always appear)
- Shelf Browser (will always appear)
- Preview (will appear only if title is in Google Books)
- MARC Record (will always appear)
- Table of Contents (will appear if library uses 3rd party product like Syndetics)
- Author Notes (will appear if library uses 3rd party product like Syndetics)
- Reviews (will appear if library uses 3rd party product like Syndetics)
No matter what the title is, Copy Summary, Shelf Browser and MARC Record will always display.
Copy Summary
This is the default view from the record summary. When you click on it, the copies owned by the library are displayed for the branch which is being searched. The item availability and status are also displayed.
- If you click on the link above the copy summary “View copy information for all libraries,, the screen will display the holdings for all branches associated with the library and the prompt changes to “View Copy Information for this location only.”
Shelf Browser
This will take you to a screen displaying materials that would be physically shelved close to this particular title in the library, and allow you to click on those items to get more information about them.
Preview
This option is not always available. It depends on whether or not the title is in Google Books. If it is in Google Books, it will display a preview, part of the book or the entire book.
MARC Record
This displays the record for the title in MARC format. You can use the Print Page button at the top of the MARC record display to print the MARC record
Labels
From the home search screen, the advanced search, or the simple search box on the results page, you can search using labels or shortened versions of the labels.
Labels:
- author: or au:
- title: or ti:
- keyword: or kw:
- subject: or su:
- series: or se:
You may also combine searches by entering 2 or more labeled searches at once in the search box. For example: kw:penguins au:cody
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