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Online Library System Help (page 2)
Searching for ISSNs, ISBNs, or other document numbers
An ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is a unique document number used to identify a print or electronic serial publication, like a journal or periodical. An ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, is also a unique document number, used to identify a book. On the Advanced Search screen, you can search for ISSNs, ISBNs, or other document numbers by selecting from the drop down menu in the Report/Call Number field. In the drop down menu, select ISSN, ISBN, or Open Entry to search for any other document number in the record.
Example:
Choose ISSN from the drop down menu, then enter your search term in the field:
Use the Keyword field to search the notes field of a record. A record's notes field typically contains information about the document that does not fit in any other field. For example, if an item includes a disk or other supplementary material, this information will appear in the Notes field. Choose Keywords from the drop down menu on the Advanced Search screen and type the terms in the text box. You can specify that the field must contain all of the words that you entered, any of the words that you entered, or the exact phrase that you entered. Click the Submit Search button.
Example:
You can customize the order in which your search results are displayed. By default, they will be displayed according to the year they were published, so that the most recent publications will be displayed first.
At the top of the search screen you can change the value of the Sort By field so that the results will be displayed alphabetically by title or by relevance ranking. You can set the Sort Order field to sort in descending or ascending order. You can also turn the ordering feature off by selecting "None" from the Sort By field. This will speed up your search process if your search is going to be returning a lot of records.
Example:
Searching a Specific Collection of Materials
From the Advanced Search screen, you can choose to search only a specific type of library material. For instance, you can search only the journal collection, eliminating books and audiovisual materials from the search. You can search books only, EPA documents only, journals only, or reference books only. Simply click one of the buttons next to the collection that you would like to search. Check the Electronic Access box to limit your search to only those records that contain a URL or link to the actual document or related item.
If you don't choose one, you will automatically search all collections. (Please note that some EPA libraries have not always cataloged their collections in this way. If you can't find what you are looking for, switch the selection back to "All" and repeat the search.)
Example:
Limiting to a Specific Database
OLS contains records for the holdings of EPA libraries, some of which are available on microfiche as National Technical Information Service (NTIS) documents. These NTIS documents are also available directly from NTIS. From the Advanced Search screen, you can choose to include or exclude the microfiche documents by choosing an option from the pull-down menu. The default setting is to search both the Library Holdings and the NTIS Microfiche databases.(We recommend searching both collections to get a true picture of the information available.)
Example:
From the Advanced Search screen, you can search multiple fields at the same time. For instance, you can search for books by the author Rachel Carson that were published in 1961.
By default the fields will be connected with the Boolean "AND" operator. For example, in the above search example, the system will search for "Rachel Carson" in the Author field and the year "1961" in the Year Published field. You will see that the Field Connector fields in between the fields is set to "AND."
You can change the value in the Field Connector fields. Choosing "OR" as the value will cause the system to search for any of the values you have entered, but not necessarily all of them together in one record. Choosing "AND NOT" as the connector allows you to exclude certain items from your search. For example, doing the search for Rachel Carson and 1961 with the "AND NOT" connector would return a list of all items written by Rachel Carson EXCEPT items that were published in 1961.
Example:
Displaying Your Search Results
After you have submitted a search, a results screen will be displayed showing a list of records that matched your search. The total number of items found is displayed at the top of the results screen. Your search strategy is also displayed. The records are listed 50 per screen, showing the title of the item and the year in which it was published.
Example:
To view one of the records, simply click on the title. To see a list of the next 50 items, click on the Next 50 Records button. The button labeled Bottom will immediately take you to the last screen of records.
At the top of the screen is the Bibliography button. Clicking on this button will display your results in bibliography format, showing short citations for each item. This option allows you to easily print several citations at a time. From the bibliography display, you can return to your list of results by clicking on the Query Summary button.
Example of Bibliography Format:
| Button Name | Button Function |
|---|---|
| New Search | Takes you to a blank OLS search screen |
| Top | From the search results page, this button takes you to the top of your results list |
| Bottom | From the search results page, this button takes you to the bottom of your results list |
| Next 50 Records | From the search results page, this button takes you to the next 50 records in the results list |
| Previous 50 Records | From the search results page, this button takes you back to the previous 50 records in the results list |
| Query Summary | From a record, this button takes you back to the display of your search results |
| Prior | From a record, this button displays the prior record from your search results |
| Next | From a record, this button displays the next record in your search results |
System Features
Truncation and Wildcards
When you enter a search in OLS, the system will search for words exactly as you enter them. For example, searching for the term "cat" would only find the word "cat," not "cats," "catnip" or "caterpillar."
To expand your search so that it includes various word endings, use the asterisk character (*) at the end of the word. This will tell the system to retrieve all words that begin with the letters you have entered. The asterisk is a "wildcard" character.
Examples:
| Entering this: | Will retrieve this: |
|---|---|
| wetland* | wetland, wetlands |
| run* | run, runs, running, runner, runoff |
| epa310r95* | epa310r95001, epa310r95002, epa310r95003, etc. |
You can also use a wildcard character that will represent a specific number of characters. Use the question mark (?) to stand in for one character. You can use several question marks in a row to stand in for a specific number of characters. This is useful if you are unsure of the spelling of a word.
Examples:
| Entering this: | Will retrieve this: |
|---|---|
| rec??ve | receive |
| acid? | acids (but not acidic or acidity) |
OLS is not case sensitive, which means that you do not have to use capitalization in any of the words or report numbers for which you are searching. For example, searching for "superfund" will find records that contain the words "Superfund," "SUPERFUND" and "superfund."