How to use the OPAC

UWI Mona Medical Branch Library

Prepared by Faith McKoy-Johnson, Librarian (Information from UWI Mona Library Catalogue Tutorial was incorporated in this

presentation.)©UWI Mona Library, 2010

Introduction

• Online Public Access Catalogue

• Provides access to the Library’s collections, e.g. books, journals, theses, CDs, videos, links to e-books and other electronic resources etc.

• Location and availability of Library resources

Where do I find the OPAC?

• The Library’s homepage at www.mona.uwi.edu/library

• Click on the “Catalogue” link and the OPAC search page will open up.

Library Homepage

OPAC Default Page

Searching & Browsing

• Two ways to find information in the OPAC– Search– Browse

• Search: Use of keywords or phrases to find items containing those keywords or phrases

• Browse: Scrolling through an alphabetical list of items, e.g. authors, call numbers

Searching by Keyword/Topic

Searching by Title

Words from a Title

Searching by Collection

Searching by Collection (Cont’d.)

BROWSE

• Use this option to search alphabetical lists (indexes) of – AUTHORS (surname first) – TITLES (omit articles -- A, An, The -- at the beginning of

titles in English, Spanish, etc.) – SUBJECT HEADINGS (Library of Congress Subject

Headings) – CALL NUMBERS (including Library of Congress Call

Numbers)

Browsing the Author Index

Browsing the Author Index (Cont’d.)

Browsing the Author Index (Cont’d.)

Browsing the Author Index (Cont’d.)

Browsing the Call Number Index

• Call Number – Usually a unique number assigned to each item in the Library

• A call number – Identifies the item in the collection– Helps you locate the item on the shelves– Serves to group books together according to

subject

Browsing the Call Number Index (Cont’d.)

• Browsing by call number on the OPAC allows you to virtually browse the library shelves from your computer

• You need to know an item’s call number to locate it in the Library

Browsing the Call Number Index (Cont’d.)

Browsing the Call Number Index (Cont’d.)

Finding the Items You Need• Collections– Open Shelf– Course Reserve (RBC)– Periodicals– West Indies Collection (WIC)– World Bank (Main Library)

• Libraries– Main– Medical Branch– Science Branch– Western Jamaica Campus

Finding the Items You Need

Finding the Items You Need

Checking Availability of Item

TitleAuthor

Full View of Record

Full View of Record

Filling Out Request Forms Collection Request form?

Course Reserve (RBC) YES

West Indies Collection YES

World Bank (Main Library) YES

Periodicals NO

Open Shelves NO

To learn more about using the catalogue….

• Read the Search Hints and the Help pages. These provide information to make your searches more productive.

• Read the Library’s notice boards for training sessions on advanced searching.