Using The Online Catalog

1
Using The Online Catalog

• How to search for the book you want.
• This self-guided set of instructions was
  developed for students using Microsoft
  PowerPoint. To advance to the next slide simply
  press the arrow key. Instructions for using
  the catalog are found in yellow boxes. If you
  dont understand the instructions please be sure
  to ask your school librarian for help.

2
Finding the right book

• The Corvallis School District Online Catalog is
  an interactive listing of all of the books found
  in the Corvallis Public Schools.
• You may search online for books by author, title
  or subject.
• You can limit your search to your own school or
  search for a book at every school in the
  Corvallis School District.
• You dont even have to be at school to use the
  Online Catalog. The URL is http//ibistro.csd509
  j.net

3

This is the default screen (the screen you will
first see) for the Online Catalog. Note that the
default is set for Keyword and for ALL libraries.
4
A Keyword search will bring up those entries with
the word or words you are searching for. A
Browse search will show a list of different words
before and after the one you entered. The
following two slides demonstrate the difference
between a Keyword and a Browse search. We
entered our term horse and clicked on
Everything.
5
Notice that there are 569 titles found. That is
a lot! We will show you how to limit your search
a bit later. A Keyword search lists all the
titles found in your search.
6
Using the same term (horse) but changing to a
Browse search we get a list of all the subject
categories with the word horse. We can also
see how many titles there are in each subject
category. And the subject category indicates
those that are fiction.
7
When to Choose Browse

• If you are not sure of the exact subject, title
  or author
• Not sure of the spelling of the subject, title or
  author
• But you know you are close
• Choose Browse!

8
How is an Everything Search Different from a
Subject Search?

• In the library catalog the subject listings are
  very specific. For example you would not find
  anything under Vietnam War in a subject search
  because the subject category is Vietnamese
  Conflict 1961-1975.
• However if you enter Vietnam War and switch to
  a Browse search the catalog will list all the
  subjects before and after Vietnam.
• An Everything search looks for your word or
  phrase in the title, description of the book and
  the subject categories.
• Either use Everything or switch to a Browse
  search when using the Subject button.

9
Other Types of Searches

• You may also search by
• Title If you know the title of the book type
  the first few words and click on title (dont
  start with the, a, or an)
• Author If you know the author of the book you
  want. You may enter the first and last names of
  the author in any order and you do not have to
  capitalize.

10
Limiting Your Search

• There are some easy ways to avoid having hundreds
  of titles to look through when using the Online
  Catalog.
• Limit your search to books found in your own
  school library.

The catalog default is set at ALL which means
that it searches for books in every library in
the school district. Notice that you can choose
individual schools or groups of schools.
11
More Limitations Use AND or NOT
In a Keyword search you can limit your search to
only fiction or only nonfiction. If you only
want fiction books add the words AND fiction to
your search. If you do not want fiction books
included in the results add the words NOT fiction
to your search. Note that the words AND and NOT
should be in capital letters.
12
Is This the Book I Want to Read?

• Note that by limiting the search to one school
  and fiction only we reduced the list from 569 to
  47 titles.
• A Keyword search shows the call number, title,
  author and the number of copies owned.

13
Find Out More About the Book
Click on See More
Now you can see the full catalog entry including
publication information (good for bibliographies)
and a summary of the book. All of the subject
terms are given as well.
14
Quick Review

• The online catalog is available from any computer
  with internet access httpibistro.csd509j.net
• System defaults to Keyword and ALL library
  searches.
• Everything searches the title, description and
  subject headings.
• Use AND or NOT to limit your search to fiction or
  nonfiction
• Always note the call number!
• Ask the librarian for more assistance if needed!