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Help on searching by:
Author
Title
Subject
Keyword
Use the Library Catalogue to find items to help you with your study.
The Library Catalogue Search can access the library collections of all
the listed libraries allowing you to look for materials in multiple libraries
with only one search.
Searching the Library Catalogue, sometimes known as an OPAC (Online Public
Access Catalogue) is simple. You can search the catalogues of all the participating
TAFE libraries by following the steps below.
To start your search, go into the library catalogue search screen. You
can do this through your Home Library homepage or via this site.
1.
Select the library catalogues you would like to search by clicking
in the boxes to their left.
2.
Type in your search word.
3.
You may choose to limit your search by material type by clicking the
arrows next to the "Limit Search" boxes. (material type
is book, periodical, video etc)
4.
Click the appropriate button, author, title, subject, or keyword (or
press enter and a keyword search will automatically occur).
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How to Search by Author
Use the Author search option if
you know the name of the author who wrote the item you want.
Some items (such as videos) do not have an obvious author, so
you should try a keyword or a title search. For information about
more advanced searching, consult the 'Help' screen on the Library
Catalogue page.
1.
Type the author's name, surname or family name first. For an organisation,
type the name in the exact order (e.g. University of Melbourne).
2.
Click on the author button.
3.
The information at the top of the screen will tell you how many "hits" you
have as a result of your search.
4.
Click on the side arrow of the screen to scroll through the search
result list. To display the full information click on the link
below each one.
Sometimes
an author’s first name is not used when entering information
into the catalogue. If you don’t find the author you want
try using just his first initial with his surname (e.g. Smith,
J) or just the surname (e.g. Tolkein) rather than their entire name.
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How to Search by Title
Use the Title option to search
for items when you know the exact name of title of an item. If
you do not know the exact title, a Keyword search would be better.
Hints:
Do not type articles (i.e. a, an, the) at the beginning of a title e.g.
For "A History of Australia," type in "History of Australia."
You must type articles between words e.g. "Introducing the Law."
1.
Type in the title (the name of the item).
2.
Click on the title button.
3.
The information at the top of the screen will tell you how many "hits" you
have as a result of your search.
4.
Click on the side arrow of the screen to scroll through the search
result list. To display the full information click on the link
below each one.
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How to Search by Subject
Search by Subject to look for broad
information on a topic.
All library items are given subject headings. When you search by Subject,
you will see a list of all the items in the library which have been given that
heading. If you are having trouble finding the word or phrase you want, try
an alternative work, or use a Keyword search instead.
Hints:
Try a keyword search first, and when you find an item which suits your
needs, look at the subject headings which have been given to this item. You
can then do a subject search using these headings to find more items with the
same subject heading.
If you are looking for an author as a subject, remember to type in the
surname (family name) first. (e.g. books about Charles Darwin rather than written
by Charles Darwin use Darwin,
C as a subject search term)
1.
Type in the Subject (the name of the item).
2.
Click on the subject button.
3.
The information at the top of the screen will tell you how many "hits" you
have as a result of your search.
4.
Click on the side arrow of the screen to scroll through the search
result list. To display the full information click on the link
below each one.
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When to Search by Keyword
Use the Keyword search option when
you are looking for information but do not know any titles for
your topic. The Keyword search option looks for any matches of
your search words. A keyword search is usually the easiest, but
it will produce the largest number of "hits" e.g. if
you type in the word "plant" you could get books about
garden plants, nuclear plants, industrial plants, authors named
Plant and any title with "plant" in the title.
How to Search by Keyword:
1.
Type in the Keyword (the name of the item).
2.
Click on the keyword button.
3.
The information at the top of the screen will tell you how many "hits" you
have as a result of your search.
4.
Click on the side arrow of the screen to scroll through the search
result list. To display the full information click on the link
below each one.
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