Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Introduction to the Internet: Red River College Library Catalogue

(RRC uses the WebVoyage OPAC developed by the Endeavor Information Systems)
Search tips
General
If your search results in no hits, try another kind of search or check your spelling, punctuation and spacing
Limits
Limits apply to keyword and title searches only
Keyword (relevance ranked)
Use for broad searching.Enter word(s) or phrase(s) in any order.
To truncate, use ?: constitut? (finds constitution, constitutional, etc.)
To search phrases, use quotes: “meech lake”
To indicate essential terms, use + in front of word +trudeau
To exclude terms, use ! in front of word !quebec
To indicate important terms, use * in front of word *canada
Search limits can be used.
Advanced keyword (and, or, not)


To combine terms, use the connectors: and, or, not
To truncate, use ?: child? (finds child, children, etc.)
To search phrases, use quotes ”world wide web”
Search limits can be used.

Author
For individuals, type last name followed by first name or, last name followed by first initial e.g. atwood m
For organizations or groups, use normal word order e.g. red river college
Subject
Use Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings e.g. canada history 1867-1914
If you don’t know the standard subject terms, use a Keyword search.
Call number
Type as much of the call number as you know, including punctuation and spaces: qd941 ; ps648 .d4 064 2000
Title
Omit articles or foreign equivalents (a, an, the, le, la, l’, etc.) when they are the first word of a title, otherwise include the article e.g. cat in the hat, but NOT the cat in the hat
Quick Limit and Set Limits
Can only be used with Title or, Keyword searches.
Cannot be used with Author, Subject, or Call Number searches.
Can limit by: location, year, type of material e.g. book, video, periodical, kit, etc.
Click on Limits to clear search limits.
Additional search tips
Press Enter key to execute search.
Click New Search or Reset to clear search statement.
Click Previous Searches to edit search statement (under heading Edit, click the number corresponding to the search statement you want to change).

Most online catalogues will provide similar searches. If there are any differences, these will generally be highlighted near the search page. It is often wise to look at a library’s catalogue in case there are any differences noted. For example, a school’s catalogue would not use LC subject headings.

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