COMM150DASILVA: An In-class Assignment : The Use of an Online Public Access Catalog

An In-class Assignment in Week 4:

The Use of an Online Public Access Catalog

Description of Exercise:	Two activities provide experience with an online public access catalog (OPAC)
Objective:	To identify the information contained in a typical record for a book and a periodical in an OPAC To perform a title search for a book and a periodical in the OPAC of a large research library To locate the OPAC for the Virginia Beach campus library of Bryant & Stratton College
Content in the Tracking Calendar & outcome:	OPACs in Week 4 Outcome 2
Readings:	Pages 25 - 40 of Research Strategies on using an online library catalog and Boolean searches
Assignment name:	wk4_opac

Background

OPAC’s --

The catalogs of academic libraries provide records for the items (holdings) in their collections, and enable access to the holdings. The digital (online or Internet) catalog of libraries is called an “online public access catalog” or OPAC.

Here is a good reason to use an OPAC –

ü To find out if a library has a book or periodical in which you are interested --

This is a productive use of an OPAC, because a library catalog searches the records for books and periodicals in a library’s collection.

Here is a bad reason for using an OPAC –

û To find and view an article inside a periodical –

This is not a good use of an OPAC, because a library catalog does not provide direct access to articles.

In order to find articles you should use periodical databases, such as those of the EBSCOhost collection in the Virtual Library. You can use some library catalogs to find other types of items, such as the titles of DVDs, CDs, and films in the collection of a library.

We will practice with the Web-based catalog of a large library for research -- the OPAC for Old Dominion University. The Virginia Beach campus shares a relatively small catalog with other Bryant & Stratton libraries on the Internet. (Click the links on the computerized version of this handout to visit these catalogs.) I recommend also that you find and use the OPAC for a public library in your neighborhood or the Hampton Roads region. Remember that you do not have to travel to the library to use its OPAC.

Interlibrary Loan --

What would you do if you found a record for a potentially useful book or periodical in a library’s collection, but you cannot borrow directly from that library?

Answer -- You would use the inter-library loan service (ILL) of a library for which you have borrowing privileges.

Here is how interlibrary loan operates --

If the book or periodical is unavailable locally, or the book circulates only among the students and staff of a college with which you are un-affiliated, then take the following steps. Identify the book or periodical article carefully, and ask the inter-library loan staff of a public library to secure the book or article. Inter-library loan services are generally free. Our small campus library will provide inter-library loan services in the future.

Activity 1: Parts of a Catalog Record

The main parts of a catalog record of a book identify the author(s), title, date of publication, subject headings, and location in the library whose catalog you search. The main parts of a catalog record of a periodical identify the title of the periodical, publisher, dates published, location in the library, and volumes and issues (“holdings”) in the library. Let us examine the actual catalog records for a book and for a periodical.

To connect quickly to the Web addresses of libraries in this assignment you should open an electronic copy of this handout. Remember that an electronic version of this handout is on the course Web page and on the drive for data-files in the campus network (labeled either “G” or “F”). You will be able to use hyperlinks, such as the following one –

Name of Web page: “Old Dominion University Libraries: Library Catalog”

Address: http://iii.lib.odu.edu/search/X

Access the OPAC of Old Dominion University by clicking the preceding URL. The starting page for the ODU Library Catalog contains the following search boxes and options –

Perform a title-search with the Title-tab

or do

a title search using the field-box.

1(a)

Record for a book:

Notice that the default search option in library catalogs is a keyword-search. A keyword-search is the type of search that we do usually with Internet engines, such as Google and Yahoo. In response to a keyword-search the engine of a library catalog will retrieve any item that has the word in particular parts (“fields”) of the records for books and periodicals. A search with a keyword retrieves usually many items in the OPAC of a large library. Most of the results of this search will be irrelevant. Your keyword simply matches a word that can occur almost anywhere in a catalog record. You can do more specific searches, which will enable your retrieval to be more relevant. You can search by title, author, subject, or call number. Let’s practice with a title-search.

Do a search for the following book – The Perfect Business Plan Made Simple. You can ignore capitalization and the first article, “The.” There are two ways of performing a search:

(1) You can select the appropriate tab (Keyword/Title/Author/Subject/Journals/Other) along the top of the search boxes. We are starting our search with a title. So you can select the tab for “Title.” Type the title into the single search box, and then hit the Submit-button.

Or …

(2) Staying at the web page for “Search by Keyword” -- Type the keywords of the title into the top search box below the tabs. The smaller boxes on the Left enable you to choose the fields (parts) of a library record in which you search the keywords. (The smaller boxes on the Right enable you to select the proper Boolean or proximity operators; the operator-boxes can be ignored for a simple title search). Click the down-arrow and select the field that shows “Title:” . Then hit the Submit-button.

On the next page fill in the information for parts of the catalog record for The Perfect Business Plan Made Simple.

Parts of Catalog Record for the book, The Perfect Business Plan…

Author:
Title of book:
Imprint (publishing information):
Subject headings:	1.
	2.
	3.
Call number:
Is the book available, or checked-out already?	Available ( ) Checked-out ( )
On which floor will I find the book?

1(b)

Record for a periodical:

Periodicals are another important type of resource to which OPAC’s provide access. You can search for periodicals by looking for a particular title or by searching for the periodicals listed for a subject. Let us look for one of the most important periodicals in Business, Harvard Business Review, in hardcopy format rather than inside an article database. Return to the Web portal of the OPAC of the University Library. Choose the tab for “Journals” above the search boxes. On the next screen for “Journal Title Search” type the following title into the large search box -- Harvard Business Review. Accept the default option for “Title begins with” in the smaller box on the Left. Hit the Search-button.

You will retrieve a page, which shows that the library subscribes to Harvard Business Review in three places. The second and third lines show the library’s holdings for Harvard Business Review in the library’s databases. Click the second line for Harvard Business Review, which has the print-and-microform holdings.

You will view a screen, which shows actually two records for the ODU Library issues of Harvard Business Review in print/microform, and in electronic format. Select the top option for print-and-microform holdings, as shown here:

Provide the following data for the catalog record of the print format of Harvard Business Review –

Parts of a Catalog Record of the Periodical, Harvard Business Review

Title:
Imprint (publishing information):
Call number:
Location:
Earliest year in the library:
Latest issue received:
Publication date (first year of publication):
Frequency:
Subject headings (2):	1.
	2.

Activity 2: Searching the Web Catalog (OPAC) for the Campuses of Bryant & Stratton College

You will find a link to the “Library Catalog” for all campus libraries of the Bryant & Stratton College on the Web portal for the Virtual Library. The link is an image of a catalog record directly under the photo of the student. You can connect also by clicking the following link --

Library Catalog

Select the option for the Virginia Beach Campus. Perform a keyword search with a word or phrase from your career area. Provide the title and author of a book, which you can find with the search. If the catalog does not retrieve the title of a book with your first keyword, try synonyms for your word or phrase.

Fill in the following blanks about your search and the results –

A successful keyword: ...........................................................................................

Title of a book (or periodical), which is retrieved with the keyword:

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Author(s) of the book:

Search with a subject heading assigned to the book. If the catalog retrieves another book on the same subject, provide its title and author:

Subject heading on which you click: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….

Title of a book on the subject: ....................................................................................................................................................................

Author(s): ..................................................................................................................................................................................................