Using the Library Catalog (Alexandria)

The library catalog is online, so you can access it from anywhere that you have an internet connection. There's a link to it on the righthand side of the library home page. Here are some tips to help you get the most from it.

Searching: What can you do on Alexandria Researcher besides a simple search for books? You can change the way your results show up, for one thing. When you are on the search results page, look for the drop-down menus under the New Search button.

• You can display your results in a list, with or without book cover images, or you can display just the cover images. See which you like best and let me know. I can change the default setting so that what first shows up is what the majority of users likes.
• You can sort your results by call number (the default) or by author or title. There are other options too, like the copyright date, or how long the library has owned the books. 

On the Home screen, the default is a simple search, with some additional search icons in the Explore box below. There is a drop-down in the upper right corner to change to an Advanced search, with many more searching options than the ones available in the Simple search. (If you would prefer to see the Advanced Search as the default, let me know. Again, I'll go with the majority vote.)

Logging in: The Log In link is at the top of the catalog page. Students: your User ID is the same as the ID number you use to sign into Tyler SIS.  Ask Mrs. Kissel for your password. She can also help is you are not sure of your ID number. :-)

You don't have to log in to search the catalog, but...

What can you do if you log in? 

See what books you have out and when they are due back to the library.

Click on your name and when the new tab opens, click "Activity" to see what you currently have out, what you have holds on and what you owe for lost or damaged books.

Place a hold on a book: Is the book you want already checked out? You can now place a hold on it right from Alexandria Researcher.

Create lists of books: maybe you want to keep a list of books you'd like to read, or books you have used for a research project. Once you add a list, it will be available to you every time you log on. You can add or delete items, print your list, or copy and paste from it into another document.

A handy tip for citing books you use for a class project: create a list, put all the library materials you use on the list, then print it in citation format. You can copy from the print preview and paste into your Works Cited document. You should double-check the information and formatting to make sure everything is correct, but this trick could save you some typing.

Write reviews: Search for the book, then click to go to the item details, hover over the stars under the cover image and the reviews box will pop up. Just click “add review” and you can get started. The reviews will not appear until they have been approved, but after that happens, everyone using the catalog will be able to see your review. 

Want to learn more? There are videos online that will show you how to do different types of searching, work with lists, place holds, and more. Find them at http://www.companioncorp.com/mediawiki/index.php/Video_Directory#Researcher_How-To