Aleph/McGill OPAC Staff Mode Basic Searching › ALEPH › Training › OPAC › opac1.pdf · search for bibliographic records in the OPAC (or Online Public Access Catalogue) module,

Aleph/McGill Training OPAC Staff Mode Basic Searching

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Aleph/McGill OPAC Staff ModeBasic Searching

1. Training schedule and online calendar.......................... 2

2. What is Aleph?................................................................. 3

3. How to search with Aleph ............................................... 6

Browse ........................................................................ 7

Direct Request ............................................................ 24

Find.............................................................................. 26

4. How to use Help............................................................... 33

5. Exercises.......................................................................... 36

6. Useful web addresses and tips ...................................... 38

7. Contacts ........................................................................... 38


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1. Training Schedule

The training schedule is available on the web as an electronic calendar.

1. Go to the library homepage at http://www.library.mcgill.ca/Click on Electronic Classroom (left hand column)

2. Go to the bottom of the page.Click on Select beside the word “Calendars” at the bottom right of the

page.

3. Click on alephtrn.

4. To find out which workshops you are registered for:Go to the bottom of the pageClick on Search beside the words “Calendars select” at the bottom right of

the page.

5. Enter your PC network login in the search box that pops up.Only change the dates if you do not want to see all your scheduled

sessions.Click on the Search button

6. A list of all the occurrences of your registration will appear in a new browserwindow.

7. To change your schedule to a calendar-like, or grid, view:Go to the bottom of the pageClick on block

8. To print your calendar schedule:Go to File…Print Preview from the browser main menu to verify that yourprintout will look the way you want it to, then select Print.Go to File…Print, to print without previewing.


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2. What is Aleph?

Aleph (Automated Library Expandable Program) is a software product designedand developed for the management of libraries and data centers.Aleph is a generalized, fully integrated system. In addition to having asophisticated Database management system, ALEPH includes modules that areparticularly suited to library administrative routines.

Aleph is made up of 10 different interacting modules. For instance, you wouldsearch for bibliographic records in the OPAC (or Online Public AccessCatalogue) module, but edit the record in the Cataloguing module, or check thecirculation information in the Circulation module. The modules are simplydifferent work areas within the cluster of software that makes up Aleph.

Depending on the kind of work you do, you will use one or several of the Alephapplications. The most common application is the OPAC module since it offersthe most flexible searching and can link to other modules. Everyone shouldbecome familiar with the way the OPAC works, and with the way that it interactswith the other modules.

This introductory session will focus on the basic search features of the OPAC.

Skills and understanding acquired in working with the OPAC are transferable tothe other applications. The way the windows environment behaves, and how onenavigates within it are common features throughout Aleph.


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Things to notice and remember

The Aleph system is still undergoing development.

If you pay close attention to the handouts you will notice that they don’t coincidedexactly with what you see when you work in the application itself.

For instance, in various places in the handout you will see the following Recorddisplay:

In others you will see something like this:

We have recently changed the various ways that you can display the record andrenamed the different display options.


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You may also notice that the options in the headings lists for the Browse Queryand the other initial search windows have changed slightly. For instance,compare the following Browse Query windows. The older version is on the leftand the newer version is on the right:

These changes should be pointed out since there will most likely be moremodifications in the future. While the details of the screens may change, theprinciples of searching in Staff mode will remain the same.

Also, be aware that the Help Screens may not be entirely up do date to reflectcertain changes in the Staff mode. For instance, in the Help screen for thedisplay of records the formats are still referred to as Full+Link, Catalog Card,MARC Tags, and Name Tags. The new display formats are called Full+Link,MARC Tags, Public view (Web full record), and Citation.


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3.There are three ways to search for records in the database:

Browse

You may browse an alphabetical list of headings, such as titles, authors andsubjects. Headings are whole phrases from the bibliographic record such asauthor, title, or subject. An entire field or specific sub-fields may be used for aHeadings Index. For example, when you search for a title using the browsefunction a list of alphabetically arranged titles is retrieved.

Direct Request

You may go directly to a specific record by entering the item's unique identifier,such as ISBN or barcode number.Direct Indexes enable a user to retrieve a specific record. Examples of DirectIndexes include: barcodes, system numbers, ISBN/ISSN, inventory numbers, etc.

Find

You may search the database for keywords. The system will search WordIndexes (such as Words in Title, Words in Subject) for records containing thekeywords entered. Word Indexes are lists of words taken from specific fields ofthe bibliographic record. Examples of word indexes include:words from authors (tags 100, 110...)words from titles (tags 222, 240, 245, 246...)words from subjects (tags 600, 650)words anywhere


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How to find works by an Author using the Browse searchfunction in Staff mode:

1. Click on the Browse icon

2. The Browse Query window will appear.

2a. Select the Authors heading from the “headings list”.

2b. Type the author’s name in the text area provided below the phrase “EnterStarting text”

2c. Click on the OK button


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3. The Browse List of Authors window will appear.

Select the author from the list by clicking on the entry line with the mouse.

You now have two options to display the author’s works:

a) Click on the Brief button to go to a brief list of the documents

b) Click on the Full button to go to a full record display of thefirst of

the documents associated with that author.


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If you opted for the Full button you would see this screen:

The window border tells you that you are seeing Record no.1 out of 2 records

retrieved. To see the next record click on the Next button .


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If, however, you had opted for the Brief button in Step 3 above, you would seethis window:

From here you can select one of the entries by clicking on it with the mouse:

Or, you can select more than one entry by clicking on one entry and dragging themouse pointer over the other entries:


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After you have selected the entries, click on the Full button for the completerecord, and the following window will appear:

If you selected only one entry, the window border will indicate Record no.1 of 1 ,if you selected 2 or more entries the window border will indicate Record no.1 of 2(3, 4 etc.) depending on how many entries were selected from the Brief Listwindow.


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When you perform these steps the windows will appear one on top of theprevious one, (except for the original Browse Query window which does notremain on the screen). So that by the time you get to the Record display windowyour screen will look something like this:


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The steps involved in finding works by an Author using theBrowse search function in Staff mode:


2. Select Authors from the “headings list”

3. Type your request in the blank space provided below “Enter starting text” and

click on the OK button

4. Select an author entry from the Browse List of Authors window

5. Click on the Brief button for the complete list of works by thatauthor

6. Highlight one of the documents in the Brief list and click on the Full button

to see the full record

7. View the full record entry in the Record window display.


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How to find works by Title using the Browse Search Function inStaff mode:



2a. Select the Titles heading from the “headings list”

2b. Type the beginning of the title in the text area provided below the phrase“Enter Starting text”

2c. Click on the OK button.


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3. The Browse List of Titles window will appear.

Select the title from the list by clicking on the entry line with the mouse.

You now have two options to display the record:

a) Click on the Brief button to go to a brief display of the record,or

b) Click on the Full button to go to a full record display.


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The window border tells you that you are seeing Record no.1 out of 1 recordsretrieved.

If you opted for the Brief button you would see the following screen:

From here you can select the record with the mouse and then click on Full for amore detailed record.


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When you perform these steps the windows will appear one on top of theprevious one, (except for the original Browse Query window which does notremain on the screen). So that by the time you get to the Record display windowyour screen will look something like this:


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The steps involved in finding works on a Subject using theBrowse search function in Staff mode:

[n.b. the Browse Query window won’t appear with the other three windows. It is added here only as an illustration.]


2. Select Subjects from the “headings list”

3. Type your request in the blank space provided below “Enter starting text” and

click on the OK button

4. Select an author entry from the Browse List of Subjects window

5. Click on the Brief button for the complete list of works on thatsubject

6. Highlight one of the documents in the Brief list and click on the Full button

to see the full record



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How to find works by LC Call Number using the Browse searchfunction in Staff mode:



2a. Select the LC Call Number heading from the “headings list”

2c. Type the beginning of the call number in the text area provided below thephrase “Enter Starting text”

2d. Click on the OK button.


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3. The Browse List of LC Call Numbers window will appear.

Select a call number by clicking on the entry line with the mouse, or a range ofcall numbers from the list by clicking, holding down the mouse button, anddragging the pointer across several lines:

You now have two options to display the records:

a) Click on the Brief button to go to a brief display of therecords, or

b) Click on the Full button to go to a full display of the records.


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The window border tells you that you are seeing Record no.1 out of 7 recordshighlighted and displayed. You can scroll through the list by clicking on thePrevious and Next Buttons.


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Here too, you can highlight one or more records:

From here, you can click on Full for the complete bibliographic record of theentries selected.

In this case non-contiguous records have been highlighted. To do this, hold downthe Ctrl key while you select the records with the mouse.


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How to find works by ISBN using the Direct Request searchfunction in Staff mode:

1. Click on the Direct Request icon

2. The Direct Request window will appear

3. Select the ISBN index from the index list

4. Type part of, or the entire, ISBN in the text area provided below the phrase“Enter request text”

5. You have the option of ticking the “Exact key” box. If you choose to do so, andif there are no direct matches to your request, no results will appear

6. Click on the OK button.

[n.b. the Direct Request window won’t appear with the Record window. It is added here only as an illustration.]

A full view Record display window will appear with the closest match to yourrequest and the next closest 100 entries.


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How to find works by ISSN using the Direct Request searchfunction in Staff mode:

1. Click on the Direct Search icon

2. The Direct Request window will appear

3. Select the ISSN index from the index list

4. Type part of, or the entire, ISSN in the text area provided below the phrase“Enter request text”. Make sure to include the hyphen for ISSNs.

5. You have the option of ticking the “Exact key” box. If you choose to do so, andif there are no direct matches to your request, no results will appear.

6. Click on the OK button.

[n.b. the Direct Request window won’t appear with the Record window. It is added here only as an illustration.]

A full view Record display window will appear with the closest match to yourrequest and the next closest entries.


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How to use the Find search function in Staff mode:

1. Click on the Find icon

2. The Find Query window will appear.

2a. Select the All Fields option from the list

2b. Type the beginning of the title in the text area provided below the phrase“Enter find query (simple)”

2c. You have the option of ticking the check box next to “Words adjacent”. Ifyou do, then the term will be searched as a phrase, i.e., the words “applepie” will always and only appear next to each other.

2d. Click on the OK button.


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3. The List of Sets window will appear.

Select the set from the list by clicking on the entry line with the mouse.

You now have two options to display the title:

a) Click on the Brief button to go to a brief display of therecords, or

b) Click on the Full button to go to a full record display.


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The window border tells you that you are seeing Record no.1 out of 18 recordsretrieved.


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From here you can highlight one or more records and then click on the Fullbutton for a more detailed display.


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When you perform these steps the windows will appear one on top of theprevious one. So that by the time you get to the Record display window yourscreen will look something like this:

[n.b. In this case, unlike the Browse or Direct searches, the original Find Querywindow remains on the screen with the other windows.]


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The steps involved in finding works by searching the Authorfield in the Find search function in Staff mode:


2. Select Authors from the list of fields in the “Select field for find query (simple)”

3. Type your request in the blank space provided below “Enter find query (simple)” and click on

the OK button

3a. You have the option of checking the “Words adjacent” box. In the case shown above thebox is checked in order to find precise mentions of the phrase “Adam Smith”

4. Select the appropriate set from the List of Sets window

5. Click on the Brief button for the complete list of entries in that set

6. Highlight one or more of the documents in the Brief list and click on the Full button

to see the full record for those documents



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The steps involved in searching the Title field in the Find searchfunction in Staff mode:


2. Select Title from the list of fields in the “Select field for find query (simple)”

3. Type your request in the blank space provided below “Enter find query (simple)” and click on

the OK button

3a. You have the option of checking the “Words adjacent” box. In the case shown above thebox is left unchecked in order to find all possible combinations of “earth” and “science”.

4. Select the appropriate set from the List of Sets window

5. Click on the Brief button for the complete list of entries in that set

6. Highlight one or more of the documents in the Brief list and click on the Full button

to see the full record for those documents



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4. How to Use Help

Remember that Help is always available whenever you’re working in Aleph.

The Help buttons on the windows are context sensitive. If you aren’t sure of whatsomething is or how it works, click on the help button at the bottom of the windowin which you find yourself working.

The highlighted and underlined words and phrases in the Help text are cross-references to other areas of Help.

Aleph Opac Staff Mode Opac Help

If you hit the Help button and a new full screen Help opens, you can always getback to Aleph by using the toolbar at the bottom of your screen.


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Often when you do hit the Help Button an entire new window will open up for afull screen view. You can make the screen smaller by clicking on the cascadingwindows icon in the upper right corner of the window to resize the Help screenso that it looks something like this:


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If you can’t seem to get at one of the Help buttons remember that you can alwaysget at Help by clicking on the main menu at the top of the main window.


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5. Exercises

Browse searches:

1) How many books can you find on economic geography?

2) How many books can you find on international cooperation?

3) Are there any books about Immanuel Kant?

4) Are there any journals on international law?

5) Can you find a book by Timothy Findley?

6) Can you find a book by O.J. Firestone?

7) Can you find a book by May Agnes Fleming?

8) Can you find a book by John Kenneth Galbraith?

9) What journal has the call no. BX802.

10) Find what book has call no. PN41 F75 1997.

11) Find what book has call no. NA470 S8 1869.

12) Find what book has call no. E185.5 D8 1969.

13) Do we have the Encyclopedia of American art?

14) Do we have the Narnia book called Prince Caspian?


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15) Do we have the Canadian bar journal?

16) Do we have the British journal of social psychology?

17) Do we have The Great Canoes?

18) Do we have Making London Better?

Direct Requests:

1) What book has the ISBN 0690016565?

2) Do we have a journal with the ISSN 0364-5541?

Find searches:

1) How many records mention the word “pie”?

2) How many titles contain the word “pie”?

3) Are there any books that have both Smith and Jones as authors?

4) Are there any records associated with authors named “Dewey”?

5) Are there any books on the subject of “dewey”?

6) Are there any subject headings with the word “chopin”?

Help Screens:

1) In the Help contents there is a section called “Overview”. How many thingscan one do from the Staff mode?

2) From the drop down menu in Help at the top of the screen, select “Keywordsearch”. What is the symbol used for truncation? What is the wild cardsymbol?


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6. Helpful Web Sites

For general information on the Aleph project visit:http://www.library.mcgill.ca/aleph/

For the complete course notes in PDF format, more exercises, and tips go to:http://www.library.mcgill.ca/aleph/training/opac/

7. Contacts:

OPAC Work Group

Chair:Sacha Jerabek [email protected]

Members:Marika Asimakopulos [email protected]

John Black [email protected]

Darlene Canning [email protected]

Marilyn Cohen [email protected]

Deanna Cowan [email protected]

Larry Deck [email protected]

Marilyn Fransiszyn [email protected]

Christine Oliver [email protected]

Diane Philip [email protected]

Documents

Aleph/McGill OPAC Staff Mode Basic Searching › ALEPH › Training › OPAC › opac1.pdf · search for bibliographic records in the OPAC (or Online Public Access Catalogue) module,