OPAC is the online computer card catalogue—the database that contains all of the records of books owned by the BEHS library. It is easy to use and very helpful. Not only will it tell you whether we have a particular book, books on a certain subject, or books by a certain author, it will also tell you whether or not the book you are interested in reading is currently on the shelf or not.
On most computers in the student area, OPAC is on the desktop. The icon looks like a little row of books.
On my office computer, follow these instructions:
These instructions (BELOW) are written for students, but you may also find them useful:
EXAMPLE: If I am looking for the book Hatchet, I type Hatchet in the bar and then press TITLE. I am told that the BEHS library has 3 copies. It tells me that two are “pb,” or paperback, and it tells me that are available or it tells me when the book(s) is/are due.
If you are doing a SUBJECT search, it is important to have several possible subjects in mind. Brainstorm and think of different words for the same topic and search all of them.
EXAMPLE: if you want information about CARS, you might look under CARS, AUTOMOBILES, MOTOR CARS, TRUCKS, etc. to find materials.
2. Type the subject in the bar at the top of the screen and push the SUBJECT button.
3. You will get a list of the closet alphabetical matches to your subject.
Often, you will see several listings for the same subject.
EXAMPLE: You might see this for the subject “survival”:
2 Survival (after accidents, etc.)—Fiction
2 Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc.
10 Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc.—Fiction
And so on. This list tells you that we have numerous books on survival.
The important thing to notice is the word FICTION, which means that those books are made up stories, not true accounts.
Using OPAC—AUTHOR searches
1. Author searches are similar to subject searches. You type in the name of the author your are looking for in the bar at the top of the screen and push “author”
2. You will get a list of the closest alphabetical matches to your subject that are available in the BEHS library.
3. Select (double click on or highlight and enter) the author from the list provided, and you will get a list of the books by that author that are in this library.
Using OPAC—KEYWORD searches.
1 Keyword searches find any WORD or PHRASE that is mentioned in the title, summary, or list of topics that is entered for any book in the library. This useful because sometimes you will want information about a subject and although there isn’t an individual title about that topic, there is a book containing information about that subject, and it shows up when you do a keyword search.
2. To do a KEYWORD search, simply type in the subject you are looking for and hit “enter” or push the “keyword” button. You will automatically get a list of titles that match the keyword.
Locating Materials in the Library
Always write down the information you find out about a book. The complete CALL NUMBER is essential for finding a book.
For FICTION, you need the author’s name, the title, and whether the book is in the regular fiction section or the paperback fiction section.
For NON-FICTION, you need entire Dewey Decimal number, the first three letters of the author’s last name, and the title of the book.
Use this information to find the book. If the book you want is “available” according to OPAC, and you can’t find it on the shelf, ask the librarian. Often books have been returned but have not yet been reshelved.