Help Center

• Searching
• Advanced Searching
• Saving your Searches
• Renewals
• Holdings vs. Bookings
• My Record Feed
• New Books Feed

Searching

Type the keyword you want to find. For example:

• microeconomics
• alias grace atwood

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Advanced Keyword Search Tips

Multiple Words

When searching multiple words the system will automatically supply the Boolean "and" operator between each word; multiple words entered for the search will all occur somewhere in the retrieved records though not necessarily in the order entered. Both examples below will retrieve the same results.

Phrase Searches

Search for complete phrases by enclosing them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes will appear together in all results exactly as typed.

Wildcards

*   Matches any number of non-space characters, starting at the specified position in the word. For example, "comput*" will match all words that begin with "comput" (e.g., "computer", "computation", etc.).
The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.

?   You may use a question mark ('?') to replace a single character anywhere within a word.

Boolean Operators

Use AND or OR to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use AND NOT to exclude words. Select the operator you wish to use from the selection list on the Advanced Search form.

Field Limits

Field limits may be specified by selecting a field limit from the selection list. These limits appear before the word or phrase to be searched. A field limit causes the system to search only the specified field for the specified word(s).

Field Limits and their meanings:

• Author: Search only author fields
• Title: Search only title fields
• Subject: Search only subject fields
• Call No: Search only call number fields

Grouping

Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance to bring the most likely titles to the top of the list. Each group represents a similar level of relevance and results are sorted within the group by date or title. To get an ungrouped result set, use boolean operators to form a complex query.

 Most relevant titles 

 Highly relevant titles 

 Very relevant titles 

 Relevant titles 

 Other relevant titles 

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Saving your searches

If you have a favorite author or subject for which you often search when using the catalogue, you can save the search with the click of a button. This will prevent you from having to key in the search each time and let you place holds (requests) on new materials quicker.

How to:

1. Log in to your My Library Account.
2. Click on the "New Search" button.
3. Search for your favorite author, subject, title, etc. or create an advanced keyword search including limits to material type, language, publication year, etc.
4. When your results are displayed, click the button marked "Save as preferred search".
5. The next time that you log in to your My Library Account, you can click the "Preferred Searches" button to see a list of your saved searches.
6. Click on the Search link associated with any of the preferred search terms in the list to quickly execute your search.
7. You can be alerted of new materials added to the library collection which match your searches. Just check the "Mark for Email" box and be sure that your patron record information includes your current email address.

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Renewals

Library cardholders may renew their own materials online. All regular materials (not Reserves or Equipment) may be renewed except for materials with holds and materials on which you owe fines.

How to:

1. Log in to your My Library Account.
2. If not the default view, click the "Items currently checked out" link to view the materials you have checked out.
3. Select the materials you want to renew by checking the boxes in the RENEW column and then click the Renew Selected button. If you want to renew everything, click the Renew ALL button.
4. If you cannot renew items, a message will appear on the screen. If you are successful, a new due date will appear in the STATUS column. Always check the STATUS column for information on the success or failure of your renewal.

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Holdings vs. Bookings

You can book an item if you need it for some specific date. For example, you want to use a big TV for the presentation in class and you want to make sure that it will be available for that date. To book an item, find it in the catalogue and click on "Book for a Specific Date" link in the centre of the record (below the Title and Published information), then fill out the form.

If you want to borrow the item as soon as possible and the date is not important, put a hold on it by clicking on "Request" button that shows up in the catalogue closer to the top of the record.

Books/CDs are holdable, Equipment is bookable, DVDs/Blu-rays/VHS are both holdable and bookable, while the majority of Reserve items are neither holdable nor bookable. "Request" buttons and "Book for a Specific Date" links show up selectively in the records, where they apply.

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My Record Feed

You can use an RSS feed to obtain patron-specific information. The following events generate a patron record feed: Materials are ready for pickup, Materials due soon, Materials due today, Materials overdue, Materials booked tomorrow, New fine or fee.

To setup your My Record feeds:

1. Log in to your My Library Account.
2. Click the "My Record Feeds" link and copy your record’s URL on the new page.
3. Add that URL to your RSS feed reader, which can be a browser extension, email client, or a standalone program. If you do not have any RSS Feed Readers, you can find many different free options by doing search in Google or any other search engine.

After the setup is completed, you will be able to view the feed in your feed reader. The feed contains a title and a link. If you are not currently logged-in to a My Account session in the browser, the system displays a patron validation screen requiring you to authenticate before accessing your record.

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New Books Feed

Want to know what new items were recently added in our library? Subscribe to our RSS feed! New Books RSS feed publishes weekly updated web content in a standardized XML format, which can be subscribed to using a variety of programs called feed readers or aggregators.

Add this URL https://orca.douglascollege.ca/feeds/NewBooksDC.xml to your RSS feed reader, which can be a browser extension, email client, or a standalone program. If you do not have any RSS Feed Readers, you can find many different free options by searching online.

Here you can find a step by step instruction on adding a feed extension.

After the setup is completed, you will be able to view the list of new books in your feed reader. The feed contains the new books’ titles, book jacket pictures and links to the catalogue records.

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