How to Find a Book or Audio Visual Material

BASIC SEARCH INSTRUCTIONS

 I.  Go to the ODIN search page

II.  Conducting a search: 

a.        In area #1, type in the words you want the computer to use for the search.

                                                               i.      Spelling is very important when searching the online library catalog.  If you have trouble finding something, check your spelling first.  Often this is the cause of the problem..

b.   In area # 2, choose either the type of search you would like to do by using the drop down box or accept the default “keyword”. (For a precise search: If the words you put in area #1 are the words of a title, change the search type in #2 to “title”.  If the words you put into area #1 are the name of an author, change the search type in #2 to “author”.)  (Subject Search is discussed further in Section VI of this handout)

c.   In area #3, you can limit your search to a specific format or search all the materials in the library at one time.  If you want to just look for a book, for example, use the drop down box and select “book” as it will give you a more precise search.  

d.   After you have made your selections for areas 1, 2, & 3, just click the box that says “search” located on the right hand side of the basic search screen.

 (Note:  To do a new search, go to the top of the screen and click the word “search” beside the red magnifying glass or click the “back” arrow on your browser until you reach the search screen again.)

 (Note:  If you would like to conduct a search using other libraries in the ODIN network of libraries or search all the libraries at one time, go to the top of the search screen, click on “libraries” in the blue menu bar.  On the next screen, click “All ODIN libraries Catalog”(or a specific library from the list) and then conduct your search.  See VII Interlibrary Loan below for steps to submit a request.)

III.               How to find a book: 

a.       After you have done your search, you will get a list of items related to the information you placed in your search areas 1, 2, & 3 (of the basic search screen).

b.      The items are numbered and alphabetically arranged by title if the library(s) has more than one item that fits the search criteria.  If there is only one item in the search, the record for that item will come up right away. 

c.       When a list of titles appears, you will need to determine which items you want and find the locations of those items. To find the location number, click on the name of the library on the far right side of the screen under the heading “Library(owned/out)”, next to the title of the book you choose. 

                                                               i.      Note: If you need to look at the record of the book to learn more about it, click the number in the “#” column in front of the line for the record you have selected.  (Also see IV Looking at the record below).

d.      A screen will come up that contains the citation for the item and the “location of the item”.  The location bar includes the following information in this order:  The name of the library; the collection within the library where the item is located; and the call number that will help you find this specific item.  The due date/hour column will tell you whether or not the item is available.

e.       Write the call number on a scrap of paper and go into the library stacks to find the book.

f.        You can also email and save your searches. 

IV.              Looking at the record: 

a.       Follow the steps for a search as outlined in “II: Conducting a search”

b.      Click the number in front of the title(s) that you want to look at.  Or for multiple records click the check boxes in front of the titles and click “View selected”.

c.       The Call Number will appear at the top of the record.

d.      To see if the item is available, click on the name of the library.

e.       A screen called “holdings” will appear. On this screen you can find the citation for the book, the location (library and call number) and whether or not the book is available. 

V.                 Electronic Books 

In some of your searches, you will find a record that is an electronic book (sometimes called “Electronic Resource” and often referred to as an “ebook”).  There are about 7,500 electronic books (ebooks) available to you from Mayville State University.  You “check” them out online for four hours at a time to read from your screen.  They are actual books, but available electronically.     

Steps for finding and using Electronic books:

a.       If you search for your topic/title/subject and you find one of the books you want to use is an electronic book, you open the record the same way as you do in part “II: Conducting a search” in this handout.

b.      Open the record by clicking the number in front of the record.

c.       An electronic book will have the words “Electronic Resource” in the call number field.

d.      On the record, you will find an area called “Electronic Location”.  Click on the web address at the “Electronic Location”. 

e.       A screen will pop up that says “Copyright Information”.  Make sure you are familiar with the copyright law stated on this page before entering into your ebook. 

f.        Scroll to the bottom of the “copyright information” page and you will see a “double link” icon in blue at the bottom.  Click on it and it will take you to the electronic book.

g.       On the electronic book screen you will see the title of the book and some other important information.  It also has viewing options at the top of the screen.  You can view the ebook by clicking “View this ebook”.  This will give you an overview of the contents.  To actually “check out” the book, log on to your account by clicking “checkout for 4 hours”.

h.       To create an account:

1.      click “Checkout for 4 hours” at the top of the ebook’s record screen

2.      click “create a free account here” on the popup screen that asks” need an account?

3.      Fill in the required screens

4.      Write down your responses somewhere in case you forget them. (After you register, you will just logon in the required areas to check out future ebooks).

5.      You will get a message that says that you checked out the book successfully

6.      Click on “view this book”

7.      Use the navigation bar at the top right hand corner to move between pages

8.      After four hours, the ebook will be checked back in by the system automatically.  You can check it out again if someone else isn’t using it.

VI.              Subject Searches: 

* The catalog (index) of all the materials in the library uses very specific language when you search by subject.  There is a set of red books beside the public computers in the library that can help you decide how to put your search for a subject into the correct words or find other options if you have difficulty finding anything on your topic. And, of course, please feel free to ask a librarian for help.  That is what we are here for.