Instruction on the Online Catalog

Open another Microsoft Explorer Window on your desktop and access the online catalog in that window. The URL for the online catalog is http://library.accd.edu.

Do an AUTHOR search retrieve books by Peter Drucker:

Select AUTHOR from the catalog menu.
Type the last name first, space, and then 2 or 3 letters of the first name, such as, drucker pe
Press ENTER or click Submit Search
Notice that the complete author's name (and date of birth) appears directly above the titles. (The titles are all in blue and underlined.)
Click on one of the titles.
The complete record for that title appears on the screen.
Note the book's CALL # and its STATUS. (Of course if the record is for an electronic book, rather than a printed book, the information will differ.)

Now we will do a TITLE search to find the book The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Either click the START OVER button at the top and select TITLE, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to AUTHOR to select TITLE.
Type hound of the bas (Note that you do not need to type the articles a, an,and the at the beginning of the title and that the title may be shortened, or truncated.)
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
When the list of titles comes up on the screen, click on any title to bring up the complete record for that title.

A SUBJECT Search will result in books about topics, such as, time management.

Either click the START OVER button at the top and select SUBJECT, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to TITLE to select SUBJECT.
Type time management
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
The screen lists the subjects beginning with the words time management. The numbers to the right of each subject indicates the number of records that have been assigned that subject.
Browse through the subjects.
Click on the subject time management to bring up the titles about dealing with that subject.
Browse through the titles and click on any title to access the complete record including the call number.

NOTE: Consult with a librarian or use the book Library of Congress Subject Headings located at the Reference Desk if you need assistance with subject heading searches.

Also, be aware that when you bring up the complete record of a title, any subject headings assigned to that title are listed at the bottom of the record. Clicking on these subjects will retrieve all records with the same subject.

A KEYWORD search for water pollution will retrieve all the records with that search term.

Either click the START OVER button at the top and select KEYWORD, or delete the current search at the top of the screen and then click the down arrow next to SUBJECT to select KEYWORD.
Type water pollution
Press ENTER or click Submit Search.
The screen lists all the titles of records with the term water pollution somewhere within the record.
Click on any title for the complete record.

A well-constructed keyword search can be very effective. The system will not recognize mis-spelled words but the words can be truncated (shortened) if the appropriate symbol is used and the terms can be combined. For more information on how this is done, click here and then click the BACK button.

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