CUL Gateway: CU Library Catalog Quick Guide

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Quickguide (HTML version)

The Cornell University Library Catalog is a tool for finding the locations of materials owned and licensed by the Cornell University Library; it is accessible through Bear Access and the Cornell University Library Gateway. The catalog provides access to the collections in all 20 libraries on the Ithaca campus, the Geneva Experiment Station Library, and the CISER Data Archive. The CU Library Catalog contains holdings of books, journal and newspaper titles, computer files, manuscripts and archives, maps, music, and visual materials. Some library holdings published on or before 1973 are not in the online catalog, but can be found in the Olin Library card catalog. The Library at Weill Cornell Medical College has a separate catalog.

Please note:You cannot search for articles within the catalog. To search for articles on a topic, use either Find it! or a single database.

Search Options

Basic Search-Title, Journal Title, Journal Abbreviation, Author, Subject Heading, Call Number, Author-Sorted by Title, Relevance, or Command Keyword.
Guided Keyword – several search boxes and drop-down menus for more precise searching.
Course Reserve -for materials professors have reserved for classes (print and electronic).

Search Tips

General

Capitalization and punctuation are not necessary when searching, except the period in Call Number searches (HB104.4 A3 S67 1985 ) and hyphenated names (Evans-Pritchard)
You don’t always need to type more than the first word or series of words: for example, in Basic Search raindrop will retrieve records for The Raindrop, Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, Raindrops Prelude, etc.
In Guided Keyword Search you can enter only part of a word (the first three letters or more) and a ? to get variations on a term: environ? retrieves environs, environment, environmental, environmentalist, etc. (Note: Be careful not to truncate too much; car? retrieves cars, card, careful, caring, etc. etc.)
To search for phrases as keywords, in Basic Search, use quotes (i.e."artificial intelligence") ; in Guided Keyword Search, change the dropdown menu from “all of these” to “as a phrase.”
Search tips are always available underneath the search box(es) and under Help in the toolbar at the top.

If you are looking for an item you know exists and want to see if it is available at Cornell, use:

Title and Journal Title

In Basic Search, you must enter the title exactly (i.e., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry NOT J Agric Food Chem or Journal Agricultural Food). If you have a journal abbreviation you are unsure of, use the Journal Abbreviation search (omitting any punctuation).
Note: You cannot search for titles of individual journal articles in the CU Library Catalog, only for the titles of journals.

Author

Enter last name first: carson rachel
Retain the hyphen in a hyphenated name: evans-pritchard

Author--Sorted by Title

Enter the last name of composer or author to retrieve works in alphabetical order: tchaikovsky will retrieve a list which includes Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893. 1812 overture; arr.

Call Number

Enter the period in Library of Congress call numbers if one appears. Other punctuation that appears in call numbers is not required for searching: HB1043.4 A3 S67 1985
Enter a space between each letter-number group in call numbers: QC984 O5 A2
Most thesis call numbers start with the word "thesis", followed by the year of completion: thesis 1999 B368

Subject Heading

Use Library of Congress Subject Headings for subject searches: Ecology United States Maps; Woolf Virginia . Leave out any punctuation but otherwise the subject heading must be exactly as the Library of Congress has stated. If you aren’t sure, do a keyword search.

If you are looking for material on a topic and want to see what is available at Cornell, try:

Guided KeywordSearch

Enter search terms into any of 3 search boxes and use specific fields (keyword anywhere, title, author, subject, series, publisher, etc.) to refine your search. Drop-down menus allow you to connect/define relationships between keywords using "any of these" (OR), "all of these" (AND), and "as a phrase". Use multiple search boxes and radio buttons to connect concepts for more complex searches.

You can also use Relevance or Command Keyword searches in Basic Search; however, these give you fewer options to narrow your results.

Relevance Keyword

Use + to mark essential terms: +cornell
Use ! to exclude terms: java ! indonesia
Do NOT use Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT.

Command Keyword

Combine search terms with Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT.
Use parentheses to group terms in complex searches: (residence OR home OR housing) and (elderly OR aged)
Use field codes to refine your search: kpub cornell retrieves materials published by Cornell.

Once you find results that look promising, you can click on a title and switch to Long View to see the Library of Congress subject headings, which are the words and phrases that the Library Catalog uses to group everything about that topic. Once you know the subject heading, you can also search for it directly in either Basic or Guided Keyword Search. In Guided Keyword Search you can get variations of a subject heading without having to choose each subject separately.

If your professor has put something on reserve, use:

Course Reserve

Go to Cornell University Courses of Study to find department abbreviations and course codes.
Please note that electronic reserves may also be found in Blackboard and course websites.

If you are getting too many results from your search, apply:

Search Limits

Apply any combination of dates, languages, collection locations, formats, or places of publication using "Quick Limit" on the Basic Search page, “Set Search Limits” on Basic or Guided Keyword Search or "Post Limit" on the Titles List pages to further refine a completed search.

If you are not getting enough results from your search:

Broaden your search terms (look for “Africa” not “ Ethiopia”) or link terms together using “any of these”/OR (look for “auto? vehicle car” instead of just car)

If you want to keep your search results:

Print, Save, or E-mail Records

Mark the record(s) you are interested in by clicking in the checkboxes beside the titles. To send or save all the records displayed, go to the Record Options box at the bottom of the page and under "Records" choose "All on page."
Select a Download Format: Brief View or Long View (Raw MARC is only for machines).
To save or print the records, click on Format for Print/Save. Your records will appear in a new window. Print the screen or save from the file menu. You can also edit the text file before you save or print.
To e-mail selected records to yourself, type your email address into the email address box, and click on Email. You must type your full and correct email address, including the domain name (xx33@cornell.edu). The message "Your Email was sent correctly" will appear even if the address is incorrect or incomplete. The email will be from "Voyager Owner."
To save records in other places besides your own computer or disk/drive, you can also use the Bookbag or Refworks buttons in the top toolbar.

To get the item:

Networked Resources
Any item that is available electronically (either in full-text or just the table of contents) will have an icon on the right labeled "networked resource." Access the resource by clicking on the electronic address listed in the record.

If it is available physically, the catalog will note that it is Not Charged and you will need to note the library and the call number where it is available. If you would like to have it delivered, use the Requests button in the top toolbar.

If it is checked out (or Charged) or elsewhere on campus:

Holds, Recalls, Book Delivery Services
To place holds (to keep the item at a circulation desk when it is returned) or recalls (to get it back from another patron earlier than the due date) or to request delivery of materials from other libraries at Cornell (including the Library Annex), open the record screen of the item of interest, click on the Requests button and follow the screen instructions. Click the Logoff button when you are finished using the catalog to protect your privacy.

If the item is not available at Cornell at all or if it currently unavailable:

Use the Borrow Direct or Interlibrary Loan buttons in the top toolbar to access one of Cornell’s Interlibrary Services. Please see Interlibrary Services on the Library Gateway for more information.

Patron Information
To access your personal library account information, click on the Patron Info button and follow the screen instructions to log in. Click the Logoff button when you are finished using the catalog to protect your privacy.

For further assistance searching the online catalog, please contact a reference librarian.