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Catalog Frequently Asked Questions

 
What is the Online Catalog?

The Online Catalog allows you to see and place holds on the books, videos, CD's, and other holdings of all 34 public and community college libraries in San Mateo County that belong to the Peninsula Library System consortium.

How do I search the Online Catalog?

Use the drop down menu to choose keyword (the default), author, title or subject. Type your search term(s) into the second box. Optionally, you can use the third box to limit to only Adult, Teen, or Children’s materials. Use the Advanced Search to limit by type of materials, such as eBooks or large print. Or you can limit by branch location.

How do I get help searching the Online Catalog?

The Online Catalog comes with an online help file you can look at by clicking on the “Search Help” button in the upper right-hand corner. For additional assistance, please contact your local library or use our eBranch Help form.

How do I find out which libraries have a copy of the item I want?
Search for the item you want by putting a title, keyword, or author name in the search box and click on ‘Search’. This will get you to a 'Search Results' page. (for example, if you have searched for an author you'll first get a list of authors to choose from. When you click on an author name, you'll get to the 'Search Results' page.) From the 'Search Results' page, simply click on a title or cover art (if there is cover art) or the "Where Is It?" link to go to the detail page for that item. Under the "Location" heading you will see a list of the libraries that have a copy of the item.
 
Can I choose the order of my search results?
Yes, you can. From the Advanced Search page you can sort by Title, Date or Relevance. Some results pages also give you additional sorting options.
 
Can I save a list of books?
Yes, you can. This is done by creating a list and then emailing it to yourself so you can save it on your own computer.
  • Do an Any Word search.
  • On the Search Results page click on the book bag for items you want.
  • Click on the “View Book Bag” button (under the yellow bar).
  • To email your list to yourself, click on the "Export Saved" button.
  • To place holds on everything on your list click on the "Hold Item(s)" button.

If you do Subject, Title or Author searches you can check off the items you want and then click on the “Save Marked Records” button. Then “View Book Bag” and continue as above.

What is “Search Multiple Resources”?

Search Multiple Resources allows you to search several different library resources at once, including research databases and the catalogs of neighboring libraries.

What does "Limit Search to Available Items" mean?

When you check on this box and do a search, the catalog will only display items that are actually in the library and on the shelf or waiting to be shelved. This will not limit the search to your particular branch unless you also limit to a specific location. Please note that doing both of these at the same time may limit the results that you will see.

What does the "Similar Results" button do?

The Similar Results button appears on the detail page only after you've done a keyword search. When you click on the Similar Results button it does another keyword search to find subjects close to your original search. For example, if you did a keyword search on Columbus, and on the results page you clicked the "Where is it?" link for the first item, a book called Christopher Columbus: To the New World, you would get a detail page that had a Similar Results button at the top. If you click on that button now, it will do a search on subjects related to Columbus. The results list that you get will show books about other explorers, like Captain John Smith or Hernando de Soto. If you click on the "Where is it?" link for one of these items and scroll down you'll see the subjects that the Similar Results button searched on highlighted in red.