Contact TMC
The Master's College21726 Placerita Cyn. Rd.
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
800.568.6248
Contact Us
HELP using the Library's Online Catalog
Search the library's Onine Catalog to find books and journals both print and electronic, videos and DVDs, audio tapes and CDs, reputable Web sites and a variety of other resources provided by the Robert L. Powell Library supporting all areas of study offered at The Master's College. The TMC catalog is searchable by anyone at any time with an Internet connection. This Voyager system by Ex Libris allows for a multitude of searching options and configurations utilizing a variety of field selections, Boolean operations and limiting features. It has two search screens, Basic Search and Advanced Search and it has an option to search for the materials that have been placed on Reserve. The onine catalog also allows patrons to view their own Patron record. A Basic search finds records using keywords located anywhere in a record, or only in these specific fields: Title (Keyword), Title (Left-Anchored), Author Browse, Subject Browse, Author/Ttitle Browse, Call number Browse, or Journal Title keyword. Punctuation and case are ignored. To perform a Basic Search: 1. Enter the words you want to search for in the Search for: free text field. 2. Select the type of search that you want to perform by choosing a search type from the Search by: drop-down menu list. 3. Limiting a Basic search is only possible with a Keyword or Title search and with designated criteria. To limit your search, choose the type of limit you want applied by using the drop down menu under: Limit By: (Keyword & Title searches only) 4. Optional: Change the number of records displayed per page if desired. 5. Click the Search button to begin your search. 6. A list of brief records will be retrieved. Full records can be seen by selecting the hyperlinked record number from the column on the left. 7. The list or selected items on the list can be printed, downloaded to a file or emailed. See Record Options below for detailed instructions. 8. Click the Reset button to clear the search page. Things to know when using Basic Search 1. Searching “Keyword” will retrieve every record containing each search term used. Basic search automatically applies the Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” respectively to a Keyword search. It will first retrieve all the records with all of the search terms in them (AND). Then it will retrieve all the records with just the first search term in them, then all the records with the next search term and so on (OR). For example, if you were searching for books on biblical counseling in Basic using keyword, the system will find every record that has both terms “biblical” and “counseling” somewhere in the record. Then it will find every record that has the term “biblical” then it will find every record that has the term “counseling”. However, 2. These commands may be used with a Keyword search to refine your results: - " " surround exact phrases: "english civil war" EXAMPLE: soldiers +"afr? american?" +"civil war" !fiction 3. Searching the Author Browse, Subject Browse, Call Number and Author Title fields produces an alphabetic list with your search term at the top of the list. 4. For best results when using “Author Browse” for personal names use the surname. Add the first initial of the given name only if the surname is very common. For group names, enter the name in direct order: masters college 5. The Subject Browse is useful for identifying proper Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings and is particularly useful when at a loss to know what search term to use for certain topics. To find out simply type your topic in the free text box; select Subject Browse from the “Search By:” drop down menu and “Search”. This will provide you with the “browse list” containing the search term at the top. Here’s why a “Subject Browse” can be so useful: the alphabetic list is a source of additional related subjects. By scrolling through these lists you will see what alternative terms are available to you and not only that but you will get a feel for the content of the library’s holdings in this area. If a term has some titles attached to it (under the titles column), you will know that it is in fact an appropriate term that can be used in searching our online catalog and other online search tools. Sometimes there are terms listed with zero titles. This does not mean that The Master’s College Library does not have any books that topic. It simply means that that particular term is not a proper LC Subject Heading. However, there will be an INFO button associated with it which will explain what term(s) to use instead. The list of subjects headings may also have a “Note” button associated with it. Both of these, the INFO and the NOTE buttons are extremely valuable sources of information about the term in question. You should always take a look at those related to your search term, if they are present. Specifically the NOTE button provides – information about how the term can be used to formulate a more focused search query and the INFO button provides either the correct term to use or alternative terms in the form of Related terms, Narrower terms or Broader terms. 6. With Title searches always disregard the initial articles “A”, “An” or “The” in any language, if (and only if) they are the first word of the title. 7. Searching the Title (left anchored) field produces records with the title anchored on the left and truncated. In other words the system will read the search terms from left to right exactly the way they have been entered. It will then find every title that begins with that search string (left anchored) and any variation thereafter (truncation). Records that do not begin with the exact same search string will not be found. For example if you searched [love of god] as a Title (left anchored), you will get a list of records whose titles begin with the phrase “love of god” (except for the initial articles “A”, “An”, “The” which may be present but are treated as though they were not). However, if you search for [love of god] as a Title (keyword), you will get a list of records that have the phrase “love of god” somewhere within the title as in “Justice with the Love of God” 8. When using the “Call Number Search” field, enter all or the initial part of a call number: 230.52 (include decimal point) Back to Top 1. Type in the free-text box these terms: biblical counseling case studies 2. Select Keyword and Search 3. Make a note of the total number of hits. 4. Now do the search again but this time put quotation marks around “biblical counseling” and around “case studies” 5. Make a note of the total number of hits. a. Examine the hit list: Why does this search have so many records that are not about biblical counseling? b. What can be done using Basic to narrow down the results even more? 6. Using the same terms do the search again but this time use the + command in front of each term. 7. Make a note of the total number of hits a. Are all of the records about case studies in biblical counseling? If not, why not? b. Why does this search have so many fewer hits than the first two searches? 8. Now again using the same terms in Keyword put “” around biblical counseling and use the + command in front of case and studies (e.g. “biblical counseling” +case +studies) 9. Make a note of the total number of hits a. How do the records retrieved differ from those in the previous search (#6)? b. Why are they different? 10. Do the previous search again but put the + command in front of biblical and counseling and the “” around case studies (e.g. +biblical +counseling “case studies”) 11. Make a note of the total number of hits a. How do the records retrieved differ from those in the previous search (#8)? b. Why are they different? 12. Which of all of these searches above retrieved the best results (e.g. not too many and right on topic) Subject Browse Practice 1. Type the term “theology” in the free text box; select Subject Browse from the “Search By:” drop down menu and “Search” 2. The resulting “browsed list” contains the search term “theology” at the top. 3. Select the NOTE icon associated with the term Theology 4. Read the Scope Note. What does this tell you about how the term theology can be used? 5. Here’s why a “Subject Browse” can be so useful: 6. Notice the list of additional subjects related to the term under “Reference Info”. Which term(s) could be used for a more focused search on a study of missions? You can find out by selecting a term then click on the associated NOTE or INFO icon and examine the related list of terms. You’ll eventually find the term “Missions”. 7. Go back to the Headings List 8. Scroll through the list on the first page and identify the heading with the largest number of titles. It may be the an individual title has more than one subject heading so some of the records associated with the term “theology” may also have the subject heading “theology, doctrinal”. Never-the-less, what does the high number of titles tell you about our collection? 9. Now find the Subject heading “Theology, Biblical” a. How many records are associated with this subject heading? b. What does this mean? If you can’t remember or don’t know, read the information about Subject Browse above c. Select the “Info” icon associated with this heading. d. What is the proper LC Subject Heading to use instead of Theology, Biblical? 10. Go back to the Headings List 11. Select the NOTE icon associated with the subject heading Theology, Doctrinal 12. How many Narrower terms are listed under “Reference Info” 13. Which of these terms are new to your vocabulary? Author Browse vis a vis Author/Title Browse 1. From the Basic Search screen in the free text box type “ 2. Select “Author browse” and Search. 3. How many records are listed for Jay Adams? 4. Go back to the Basic search screen and again type in “ 5. Scroll down to the records for Jay Adams. 6. How does this list differ from the Author browse list? 7. Can you think of situation where an Author/Title search would be particularly useful? 8. Answer: you know the author but you can’t remember the exact title of the book you want and you know the library has many books by that author. The Author/Title search allows you to easily scroll through all the titles by that author until you remember which one you want. Develop your own search criteria on a fill-in form. Advanced Search allows you to more specifically define the parameters of your search. With Advanced Search, not only can you apply Boolean operations to your search terms but you also have the ability to combine additional Boolean operations to multiple field selections for the purposes of refining your search. Default search criteria can be modified. Words or phrases may be combined, expanded or restricted through Boolean operators such as "AND", "OR", "NOT". Use "Search Limits" to further refine search criteria. Punctuation, case, and word order are ignored. To perform an Advanced Search: Optional: Click the Limits icon, if you want to restrict your search to specified criteria like publication date or the type of material based on its location within the library. This should be done before filling in the rest of the search form. 1. Start with the first set of search blocks and modify the Boolean operations as needed. 2. In the first Search For free text box type in the search term(s) you want to find. 3. Then select from the drop-down list the appropriate Boolean phrase according to whether you want the system to find records with any one or the other of the search terms, records with all the search terms in them, or records that contain the search terms as a phrase. a. “Any of these” = OR; either b. “All of these” = AND; both c. “As a phrase” = as a phrase J 4. From the Search in: drop down menu select the bibliographic field in which you want the terms to be located. Title, Keyword Anywhere, Author Name, Subject, ISBN, ISSN, Series. 5. Optional: Select the appropriate Boolean operator that you want applied to the next search term(s): AND, OR, or NOT. 6. Optional: Change the number of records displayed per page if desired. 7. Click the Search button to begin your search. 8. A list of brief records will be retrieved. 9. Full records can be seen by selecting the hyperlinked record number from the column on the left. 10. The list or selected items on the list can be printed, downloaded to a file or emailed. See Record Options below for detailed instructions. 11. Click the Reset button to clear the search page. Things to know when using Advanced Search 1. From Advanced Search your search can be formulated to account for as much or as little as you know. 2. You can apply Boolean operations and select a variety of fields in a number of combinations. 3. The search terms are not left anchored. Rather, each term or phrase is truncated on both the left and the right. 4. Searching in Keyword Anywhere will cause the search engine to look for the term(s) in the entire bibliographic record. 5. For best results when using the “Author name” field, do not search first name/last name. Instead search the last name, space, then the first name. Better still only use the author’s last name. If it is a very common name, add the first initial of the author’s first name. 6. For best results when searching a name other than as an author (keyword, subject or title), use first name and last name in that order but search it “as a phrase”. Back to Top 1. In the first free text box type the terms “biblical” and “counseling” (not the quotation marks) using “all of these” in the Keyword Anywhere field then select the “AND” and in the second free text box type in “case studies” (not the quotation marks), select “as a phrase” then Keyword Anywhere and Search. 2. Make of note of the number of hits 3. Using the same search terms in the first free text box type biblical counseling select “as a phrase” then Keyword Anywhere. Then in the second free text box type “case” and “studies”, select “all of these” in Keyword Anywhere. 4. Make a note of the number of hits a. How do the results of this search differ from that of the previous search? b. Why are the results different? 5. Do another search in the first free text box using biblical counseling “as a phrase” in the Subject field 6. Make a note of the number of hits a. What do the results of this search tell you about the Subject “biblical counseling”? b. What is the likelihood that this library does not have any books about biblical counseling? c. If you know the solution to this dilemma, try it before going any further. If you can’t think of the solution read on but give it some thought and see what you can come up with based on what you already know about Basic and Advanced Search. d. Obviously, the resulting “no hits” does not mean the TMC library does not have any books about Biblical Counseling. What this search does indicate is that “biblical counseling” is not used as a Subject heading in any of the records. To solve the dilemma go to the Basic search screen and type “biblical counseling” in the free text box and select Subject Browse. Notice there are “0” titles associated with this heading just as was discovered in the previous search using Advanced. e. What does this mean? If you can’t remember or don’t know, read the information about Subject Browse above f. Now notice the “Info” icon in the left most column; select this. What does the “Reference Info” indicate is the term to use instead of “biblical counseling”? The Search Limits feature allows you to restrict your search results to specific criteria such as language, date, location of the material within the library and place of publication. Limiting a search is a valuable part of your search strategy. Often it is more helpful to start with a broad search and then limit the search if the resulting hit list is too large to manage. The Location limit can be of particular help when a specific material type is desired, for instance the DVD “Lord of the Rings” is wanted; not the book. Once set, the limits remain in effect until cleared or changed. Search Limits can be applied from the link on the online catalog main page before beginning a search or they can be applied during a searching session. Search Limits does not function with Reserve Reading. 1. The only fields that can be limited in a Basic Search are Keyword or Title Keyword. 2. The only criteria that can be applied in a Basic search are video recording, sound recording, serials in English, reference and works published within the last ten years 3. To apply Search Limits from the Basic Search form choose the type of limit you want applied by using the drop down menu under: Limit By: (Keyword & Title searches only) 1. The Limits feature applies to all searchable fields: keyword, title, subject, author name, ISBN, ISSN and series 2. To apply Search Limits from the Advanced Search form, select the “Set Limits” icon at the bottom right corner of the page. 3. The most valuable limiting options for this library are Date and Location. Limiting options include: a. Language (almost all of the materials in the TMC library are in English) b. Date, which refers to the year of publication, can be set to a specific year, before/after a specific year, or a range of years. “>” = greater than (use for works published after the specified date); “<” = less than (use for works published before the specified date) c. Location: refers to the location of the item within the library and includes these: archives, books, CDs/CDROM, Cassette Tape (Album), Cassette Tape (Single), Electronic Book, Indexes, Periodicals, Reference, Reserves, Video/DVDs. Multiple locations can be selected by holding down the CTRL key d. Medium and Type are not recommended as these resources are more easily identified by using the Location limit e. Place of Publication f. Publication Status (currently published, ceased publication, unknown) 4. To set the needed limits click on the appropriate drop-down list and select the limiting criteria. 5. Click the Set Limits button to begin your search 6. When the page refreshes select Search then select Advanced Search 7. To turn off the limits click the Clear Limits button at the bottom far right corner of the search form. Reserve Search for all books and materials on the reserve reading list for all current courses at The Master's College. Searching for Course Reserves can be applied from the “Reserve Reading” link on the library catalog main page before beginning a search or it can be done from the search screen by selecting the “Course Reserve” tab. Reserve lists can be obtained by instructor, department or course number and section where applicable. Simply select from their respective drop down menus then click the Search button. A list of brief records will be retrieved. When searching by Instructor the department and course and section where applicable will be included. When searching by Department the instructor and course will be included and when searching by Course the department and instructor will be included. Full records can be seen by selecting the hyperlinked record number from the column on the left. The list or selected items on the list can be printed, downloaded to a file or emailed. Refer to Record Options for instructions. Access your individual patron account to discover how many books you have checked out, what if any outstanding fines and fees are owed, place holds on checked out items and renew items already checked out before they become overdue. This is a secure log-in site that requires your Patron Barcode (located on your Master’s College ID Card) and Last Name. When you login you will find: 1. Patron Information - the address and phone number the library has on record for you. If any of this information is incorrect or no longer current please contact the circulation desk to have it corrected (800-568-6248 ext.3420). 2. Patron Blocks – prohibits the patron from checking materials out of the library. A block can be placed on a patron for loosing library materials or for accumulating excessive fines/fees. 3. Charged Items – lists all the materials the patron has checked out. Includes the due date and an option for renewing each item. If the item has been renewed it will also show how many times it has been renewed. 4. Request Information 5. Fines and Fees Note: These links open in a new window. If you click on a link and it doesn't seem to work, please check to see if there is another browser window open in which the page is displayed. The library catalog contains bibliographic records of all the resources in the library. The catalog records do not contain the contents of the books, journals, videos, etc. They only contain information about those items (i.e. bibliographic information) like the author, title, publisher, call number, subject headings, number of copies, circulation status, etc (see Record Legend for a description of these fields). Many records even contain the Table of Contents of the item and where applicable records will contain links to the full-text of electronic resources such as NetLibrary, electronic journals and other selected Internet resources. Relevance: a programmed algorithm applied to online search engines which results in displaying first the retrieved records that are most likely to be relevant to the search query and decreasing in order of likely relevance. The ranking criteria used in the online catalog are: term frequency (the number of times the term occurs in the record), number of field occurrences of query words, and weight of field occurrence of query words. Each field is weighted for importance (e.g. title and subject fields are weighted higher than the Note field). For example, a record with the search term found in the title field would rank higher than a record with the search term in the Note field. This relevance is indicated by the use of color coded hash marks: red indicates the most relevant; blue is slightly less relevant; yellow is even less relevant and grey is the least relevant. HINT: the relevance of a hit list calculated by the search engine may not correspond to the actual relevance required by the user. Status: field that describes the item’s state of being Charged = item is currently checked out to a patron with a future due date Not Charged = item is not checked out and should be on the shelf. HINT: the item could be lying on a table, book cart, study carrel or in process of being reshelved. Renewed = item is currently charged to a patron for an additional period with a future due date Multiple Item Statuses = item has multiple copies in the same location, copies in both Reference and No item data available for a book = item is on order but not yet available for circulation In Transit = item is en route from one location to another Lost item – Library applied = applied by circulation staff when the item cannot be found thirty days after a Missing status has been applied. This status will remain on the item until a decision is made by the head librarian to replace the item or withdraw it from the collection. Lost—System applied = automatically assigned to overdue items that have not been returned by the due date. The system does not calculate additional overdue fines once this status is given. Missing = after extensive searching the item could not be found in the library. At bindery = the item has been sent to be repaired or rebound Location: The area within the library where the item is located. TMC Library locations are designated according there respective formats: Archives = select materials stored for preservation; these materials may not be checked out. Access to these items is restricted; see Main Books = majority of the book collection; items may be checked out; housed on the first and second floors of the west wing CDs/CDROM = spoken CD’s and CD/ROM’s are shelved with Cassette tape albums (near the periodicals on the first floor, southeast corner; Music CD’s are shelved in the cabinet near the end of the video wall (southwest corner of first floor) Cassette Tapes (Album) = a set of two or more tapes belonging to the same title; shelved near the periodicals on the first floor southeast corner Cassette Tapes (Single) = individual titles complete on one tape; shelved in the cabinet in front of Mr. Stone’s office (first floor center, east side) Electronic Book (e-book) = a book whose text is available in an electronic format for reading on a computer screen. Electronic Periodical = a magazine, journal or newspaper whose text is available in an electronic format for reading on a computer screen. Indexes = a research tool that provides information about where research resources can be found like articles, books, theses/dissertations, reviews, position papers, etc. Strictly speaking an index only provides a citation to the item. However, many online indexing tools will also provide an abstract and often even the full-text of the article. Periodicals (Print/Electronic/Microforms) = works published at regular intervals (e.g. magazines, newspapers, journals). Q (Oversized Books) = books too large to fit on the shelves in the main collection; shelved on the second floor, left side, at the back of the room. Reference = collection of books intended for quick answers, facts, dates, persons, places, events, etc. Many reference tools are now available in electronic form as well as in print. The Reference Collection (print) is located on the first floor northwest corner. See the Research Guide Reference Tools for a description of the various types of reference resources and their use. Reserves (Print/Electronic) = reserved materials consist of books, videos, DVD’s, audio cassettes or any other items a professor wishes to make available to an entire class for a whole semester or a portion of the semester. These select materials are located behind the circulation desk and have unique circulation requirements. Go to Library Services àCourse Reserves on the Library’s Web site for more details on policy and procedure for using this service. VT(Videos)= : includes both videos and DVDs. Shelved along the south wall of the first floor Call Number: the address of an item indicating it’s location within the library. The call number is comprised of the Dewey Decimal number, the Cutter number and often a date or a volume number or even a copy number. Each Dewey Decimal number represents a specific area of knowledge. The Cutter number, a letter/number/letter combination below the Dewey Decimal number, further identifies the work by the author's surname and the title. For example, the call number for Thomas Watson's The Ten Commandments is as follows: 241.52 = Christian moral and devotional theology, codes of conduct. “.52” is a decimal number and whose value is less than that of “.6”. Therefore, 241.52 would be shelved before 241.6. W338t = “W338” is the numeric value given to the name Watson; “t” represents the word "Ten" from the title of the book (“A”, “An” and “The” in any language are never considered when they are the first word in a title). Number of Items: number of copies or volumes held by the library. Online Resource: Electronic material (book, periodical, etc) encoded for manipulation by a computerized device. HINT: Select the link associated with this field to access the electronic resource. Access to these items is restricted to the TMC community. There are three possible means of accessing our e-books depending on their respective sources: If they are part of a publisher’s collection (xrefer, If the online resource is part of the NetLibrary collections, each user must first create an account and password while logged onto a computer on campus. Go to www.netlibrary.com. If properly logged on the middle of the netLibrary screen will read “Welcome to the The There are also some individual electronic resources that have been purchased and loaded into the TMC collection which require a special password. See Author: the person chiefly responsible for the creation of the intellectual or artistic content of a work. Additional Author(s): all who are responsible for the creation of the intellectual or artistic content of a work in addition to the person who is chiefly responsible for it. Editor: one who prepares for publication an item not his or her own; in some cases it may involve the technical direction of a staff of persons engage in creating or compiling the content of the item. Title: a word, phrase, character, or group of characters, normally appearing in an item, that names the item or the work contained in it. Variant Title: a version of the title that is significantly different from the title proper (cover title, caption title, translation, etc.) Edition: all copies produced from essentially the same type image and issued by the same entity Publication: information about the place, name, and date of all types of publishing, distributing, releasing and issuing activities Description: physical description of the item (e.g. number of volumes, total page numbers or components, playing time, parts, dimensions, accompanying materials, etc.) Series: a group of separate items related to one another by the fact that each item bears, in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole. Format: a particular physical presentation of an item. Contents: Table of Contents taken from the item; indicates the presence of material not implied by the rest of the description. Notes: additional information provided for clarification of data such as nature of the work, language/translation/adaptation of the item, variations in the title, edition and history, material type, series, physical description, accompanying materials and supplements, audience, format, summary, contents, etc. Subject(s): a controlled vocabulary used to denote subjects commonly used in library catalogs. Library of Congress Subject Headings are used in the TMC library catalog and occasionally Medical subject headings are used. Genre/Form: a kind of work; the kinds distinguished with this field are electronic books and electronic periodicals purchased by the library. ISBN: International Standard Book Number - A standard numbering system used to provide unique numbers to a physical manifestation of a work. ISSN: International Standard Serial Number - A standard numbering system use to provide unique numbers assigned to a specific title of a publication of a literary work in successive installments as in a journal, magazine or newspaper. The entire results list or selected (marked) items from the list can be printed, downloaded to a file or emailed. 1. For the entire list just scroll down to the “Record Options” section at the bottom of the page. 2. For selected records on a list mark each record desired using the check box in the column on the left. 3. When there are multiple pages in a results list and items are marked, it is necessary to click on “Retain Selected” at the bottom of the list before moving to the next page. This must be done on every page where items are marked. Failing to “retain selected” items before going to another page of the hit list will result in a loss of any selections made on that page. 4. From the Records column on the left choose one of the three options: All on page; Selected on page; Selected all pages. “Selected on Page” is the default option. 5. If emailing is desired, simply type in the destination email address and select “Email” 6. If printing or downloading to a file is desired first choose Full Record or Brief Record from the “Select Download Format:” drop down menu. a. The full record includes the entire bibliographic data: Author, Title, Primary Material type, Subject Headings, Publisher, Physical Description, as well as Series, Notes and Table of Contents if any, Call number and Location. b. The brief record only contains Author, Title, Primary Material type, Publisher, Call number and Location. c. The information provided in the brief record contains all that is necessary for citing in a research paper. d. Then select “Format for Print/Save” and use the browser’s “Print” or “Save as” functions as desired. e. EndNote Citation, Latin1 MARC, Raw MARC and UTF8 may be used when exporting to a bibliographic management program such as EndNote, ProCite, Refworks, Reference Manager, etc or some other database program. Refer to the instructions provided by the program being used. 7. To return to the hit list use the browser’s back button. Voyager has a number of icons which remain constant with every screen. Below is an explanation of each icon and their respective functions. TMC/TMS = permits searching of The Master’s Seminary catalog individually or simultaneously with The Master's College. Search = begins a new search using the search form last selected. Headings List = available when a browsed search is performed using the Basic Search form, when selected it reveals the original hit list. Titles List = whenever an Advanced Search is performed, this button returns the user to the original results list of the most recent search. It will do the same when performing a keyword or title search with the Basic Search form. Patron Account = select this to access your own patron record. Login = this login will enable access to both “Patron Account” and “Request” any time during a search session without the need to login to each individually. Request = with this button all patrons are able to place a Hold on checked out items and TMC faculty are also able to make purchase requests. History = this button provides a list of all the searches that have been performed during the current search session. It enables the user to: 1. “Combine” selected previous searches. It does so by automatically performing the Boolean “AND” operation between the selected searches 2. “Edit” a selected search by taking the user to the Advanced Search form with the selected search preset. 3. Perform the same search again by selecting the desired hyperlinked search query in the “Searched for” column. Help = provides information about the current page. Exit = closes the current search session and returns the user to the main llibrary catalog screen. Any search “History” to this point is lost. The Voyager system contains a number of default settings that can be altered by the user during a search session. These default settings include: 1. The Boolean “AND” and “OR” are applied respectively to a Basic Search. However, this can be adjusted: “”, +, ! commands may be used with a keyword search in a Basic Search 2. Drop down menus offering AND, OR and phrasing options in Advanced Search can be utilized to alter the default setting 3. The initial results list displays a table containing a check box, a record number, format, relevance indicators, title, author, publication date, location, call number, status (charged, not charged, renewed, overdue, multiple items) and where applicable a URL indicating an electronic resource. This table can be changed by selecting the record number (left column) to see the Full record which in turn can be changed to the reveal the MARC record by selecting the tab at the top of the results list. 4. The number of records per page is set to 50 but may be changed to 10, 20, or 25 by using the drop down menu on the bottom left corner of the search form before clicking on the “Search” button. 5. “Selected on Page” under Record Options 6. Results are sorted by Relevance and may be changed to sort by Title, Author, Publication Date ascending or Publication Date descending by using the “Sort by:” drop down menu above the results list on the left side of the page. © Janet Tillman/The Master’s College, 2004, permission is granted for non-profit educational use; any reproduction or modification should include this statement. Last updated January, 2008.
- + marks essential terms: +sin +judgment (applies the Boolean AND or “all of these”)
- ! eliminates terms: calvin !calvinism (applies the Boolean NOT)
- ? truncates: manag? --> finds manager, managed, management, managing etc.
- Enter spacing and punctuation accurately: 227.6 F381L 2000 (include decimal point and spaces between DDC number and Cutter number and date)
- Truncation is automatic.