Wednesday, June 26, 2013

New Libraries' catalog

You asked:  There are several things I liked about the old catalog that aren't  in the new one:

1.  Our own collections should be the default for searches.
Irma says:  There are two ways you can limit your search to the UNCG Libraries.  One is to click on "catalog" in the red box on the Libraries home page before entering a search.  Another is to go to the advanced search and limit your search to UNCG Libraries.

2. Searching  for a specific title can bring up too many hits.
Irma says:  Probably the best way to do this is to use the advanced search and use the drop down menus to limit to a title search. Putting quotes ("") around the title helps, too.

3.  It doesn't show the floor where the book is shelved.
Irma says:  That was a great feature in the old catalog. We hope we can add that later.  But take a look in the upper left hand corner of the catalog page that says "UNCG University Libraries."  There's a drop down menu that includes a "locations of materials" page that has a floor guide.

4.  We can't request holds for items checked out.
Irma says:  This feature should be added back very soon.  Look for publicity!  You may also request an Interlibrary Loan for any item that's checked out. 

More from Irma: 
We decided to move to this new system  in order to provide broader and deeper discoverability of information.  It provides "Google" like searching of books, articles, archives and much more from libraries across the globe so that  researchers  may find a variety of materials in one place.    Another driver for our decision was the fact that our old catalog was very outdated and no longer supported by the vendor.  We will continue to make improvements in the system.  This guide provides lots of helpful information for using the new catalog and our staff is available by phone, text, chat or in person

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Journal Finder

You asked:  Can we please return to Journal Finder?  It was a great database!

Irma says: We appreciate your compliment about Journal Finder.  It was developed and maintained here at the University Libraries before being sold to WT Cox.  Over the past year we've been transitioning to a new integrated system, OCLC's Worldshare Management System (WMS) and, unfortunately, Journal Finder is not compatible with it so we had to replace it with WMS's journal tool. 

We decided to move to WMS in order to provide broader and deeper discoverability of information.  It can  provide "Google" like searching so that researchers may find a variety of materials (books, articles, archives and much more) in one place.   Another driver for our decision was the fact that our old system was very outdated and no longer supported by the vendor. 

To help you use the new system, including the journal tool, we have a Lib Guide.  



Also please don't ever hesitate to contact us for additional help with the journal tool or any other information need.