WISER: History Advanced OLIS searches Isabel Holowaty, History Librarian Kate Petherbridge, Upper Camera Superintendent

Aims of today Make the most of OLIS the easy way! How to combine searches How to display titles by date (sorting) How to find all books in one library/language only (limiting) What are cross-references How to find books on a particular subject Questions Hands-on

Live demo For the demo, we’ll be using the Telnet version of the OPAC. It has higher functionality than the Web-based version.

Combined keyword searching combine key information about the item you are looking for in order to focus your search more precisely For example, to find The History of England by Macaulay the easiest way is to perform the combined search aw=Macaulay tw=history England.

Sorting / Limiting results sort or limit your search results to find exactly what you need For example, to find a lending copy of Macaulay’s History of England- sort by date to find a recent copy limit results to a library with a lending collection (e.g. HFL) by changing search parameters

Reset parameters!! reset the search parameters if you want to search the full catalogue again please reset the parameters when you finish so they don’t impact on other library users check the search parameters if you only find items in one library when you search- someone may have left search limits in place

Modify your search lets you include such limits to your search as publication date, language and publisher gives a brief guide for each option to help you enter your desired limit in the correct form no need to reset as “new search” option starts a different search that can then be modified if needed

Cross references take you to the correct catalogue entry for the person, title etc. you are looking for Remember to type the cross-reference in as a search itself in order to find the full list of relevant material. For example, if we search a=Churchill, Winston we find a cross reference to the official catalogue heading.

Extend your search use terms from one catalogue entry to link to other similar items The “extend search” option allows you search using terms from the current record such as author, title or shelfmark. You can also use subject terms to extend your search. Use the “previous screen” options to return to the original record and expand your search in different directions.

Useful if author and/or title unknown Use of a thesaurus  Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) Subject searching

A thesaurus NT Birth places NT Historic farms NT Literary landmarks … Historic buildings RT Historic sites BT Architecture BT Broader Term – NT Narrow Term – RT Related Term

Advantages Bring together synonyms, variant spellings, etc. Consistent & reliable use of language Retrieves all entries on subject regardless of language used by author For gerbillurini, ammadollini, etc. use gerbils

Art - England - Oxford

Subject searches Information on people & organisations Information on places Information on topics Finding primary source material Finding useful reference sources

Primary source materials Useful terms: Archives Biography Correspondence Charters Diaries Genealogy Interviews Maps Pamphlets Personal narratives Sources Speeches Statistics Wills

Reference sources Useful terms: Atlases Gazetteers Maps Dictionaries Encyclopedias Handbooks, manuals, etc. Directories Bibliographies Catalogues Indexes Registers Chronology

Putting it all together… Which is the most recently published English book on Mussolini in the HFL?

Questions & hands-on