Use the University of Cincinnati libraries' online catalog to find books, electronic books, videos, web links, periodicals, and other information resources available from all the UC libraries.
Tips for searching the catalog:
Keyword and Subject are the two options for searching a topic, but what is the difference?
KEYWORD: Keyword and Subject are the two options for searching a topic, but what is the difference?
Keyword searches look in the title, subject heading and table of contents and retrieve records that contain the terms you enter. It is useful when you don't know the exact title or subject heading.
Keyword searches offer you the opportunity to use search strategies such as Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), truncation (*) to expand a root, adjacency, and proximity. An in-depth look at these search strategies can be found at: http://uclid.uc.edu/screens/tips/keyword.html.
Example: if you want to find sources on the topic of the “effect of violence in the media on children”, you would use the following KEYWORD search: violence AND media AND children
Caution: Keyword searches sometimes retrieve records that aren't relevant to your topic. For example, a keyword search for "mercury" finds hundreds of items including planets, Greek gods, and rock stars.
SUBJECT: Subject searches work well for finding materials that are the most relevant to your topic. This type of search uses specific terms designated by the Library of Congress. Ask a librarian for help with finding the right subject headings.
Example: Violence in mass media—Psychological aspects
Hint: Try a keyword search, find the most relevant titles, and then see what subject headings are used to describe those items. (Near the bottom of the record information) You can then click on a subject heading to search for more materials on that topic.
Limiting your search to Clermont resources:
Sometimes you may only be interested in materials available in the Clermont College Library. When this is the case, you can easily “LIMIT” your search by “LOCATION” (or by other criteria).
Be cautious, limiting the location will block full-text electronic resources (e-books and e-journals) from appearing in the results.
There are two possible methods for limiting the location:
When you begin your search: If you know that you want to limit your search to the Clermont collection when you are starting your search, you can limit the search at the start by changing the “LOCATION” drop down list to “CLERMONT”.
After the search: If you want to limit the location after you have done a search, link to the Modify Search button; the first optional limit listed is by location. Choose “CLERMONT” from the drop down list and click the search button. NOTE: there are many other limit options available that could be useful to your searching needs, such as Year of Publication, electronic Resources, etc.
Requesting an item from another UC library:
To order items from other UC libraries, use the "REQUEST" option. (The “Request” button at the top of the results screen.) You will be prompted for your name, student id and PIN.
Choose a pickup location and click on submit. At the next screen, click on "request selected item" to complete the order. Items usually arrive within five business days.
Expanding your search to OhioLINK resources:
If you are not finding resources you need in the University Libraries’ online catalog, or if an item is unavailable, you can expand your search into the OhioLINK catalog.
The OhioLINK catalog contains holdings for over 85 academic libraries across Ohio. At the top of the search results screen there is a button labeled “Search OhioLINK”. When you click this button, your search expands to the OhioLINK catalog.
From your OhioLINK search results you can select an item and see how many libraries have the item and you have the option to request the item. Before you request the item, verify that UC does not have the item available by clicking on the link for the number of libraries and viewing who has it.
Once you have verified that it is not available through UC, use the "request this item" option and follow the instructions on the screen. Be sure to choose the correct pick-up location. Items are sent by express mail and usually arrive within five business days.
Keeping track of items you have requested or checked out:
Link to “Your Library Record” from the online catalog search page or go to https://uclid.uc.edu/patroninfo and enter your name and UC ID number (M number) to login to your library record. Make sure you logout when complete. You can check the status of requests, the due dates for books, and you can renew your material online.
revised 10/2007 - Rosemary Young
created 03/2004 - Rosemary Young
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