University Library > Guides > How to Use the Library Catalog

How to Use the Library Catalog 2. Additional Features

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The University Library Catalog contains records of library holdings physically contained in the library, as well as records for electronic books and some other online resources. This guide covers features not discussed in How to Use the Library Catalog: 1. Basic Search. See that guide for assistance with basic search options.

Accessing

To access the Library Catalog from any University Library webpage, select Books from the Find menu and click on University Library Catalog. It is also searchable directly from the library homepage.

To exit the catalog, click on Library Home at the top or bottom of the page.

Personal Record

Your Personal Record contains a list of materials checked out, renewed and requested, as well as fines and fees incurred. It is possible to renew checked out materials from here.

To access, click on Personal Record at the top or bottom of the page. Enter your UW-W ID barcode"number" # (middle 7-digit section of your HawkCard) and last name in the designated boxes, then click on .

To renew an item, click in the checkbox in the Renew? column to the left of the item title. A mark will appear in the box once it has been selected. Click on .

When done viewing your personal record, click on the Logoff button at the top or bottom of the page to prevent others from viewing this information.

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Course Reserves

To ensure that materials are available for a class, professors may place items on reserve at the Circulation Desk or online as ereserves through the Catalog. Videos and entire books are held at the Circulation Desk, but book chapters and periodical articles may be put on the web and accessed directly from the Course Reserves page of the Catalog.

To locate reserves, either:

  • Select the Course Reserves tab in the catalog, or
  • From the library homepage, select reserves from the Find menu

Ereserves may only be viewed by UW-W students, faculty and staff. When off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your 7-digit UW-W ID number and last name to log in.

From the dropdown menus, select an instructor, department or course by clicking on an arrow box in a menu. Do not select from all three, as this may cause an error.

Instructor, department & course dropdown menus

Click on . Results are displayed alphabetically in a title list.

Items available electronically are grouped under a heading beginning with "A) Articles for course..." followed by the course number and name. Click on the link for your course, if available. For each item available electronically, there is a title link in the E-Items field. Click on the link for the desired document to open it using Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4.0 or above is required). If you need to download this software (for free) you can do so by clicking on Acrobat Reader at the bottom of any Library webpage..

If there is no link in the E-Items field for the item being sought, it may only be on reserve in print, such as a book, or another format, such as a video. To check for this, go back to the original alphabetical list of items, then scroll down and look for the item's title. If you find it, click on the link. Items available at the Circulation/Reserve Desk have the Location of Reserve or a location message of "Temporarily Shelved at [Reserve]" and a Call Number that begins with "ZP/[instructor name]." Write down the title, call number and instructor's name, then come into the University Library to view it.

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Setting Limits

Limits instruct the catalog to retrieve only item records that have specified characteristics. Limits may be set for Keyword, Title, Journal Title and Relevance searches, but not browse searches such as Author or Subject. There are three basic ways to set limits:

  • Quick Limits: Select an option from the drop-down menu on the Basic Search screen at any time before pressing . Limits remain in effect for all subsequent searches until cleared by clicking on or resetting the Quick Limit box to None.
  • Set More Limits: On the search page, click on Set More Limits button BEFORE entering search terms, and choose options from the Limit Categories below.
  • Limit Results: On the results page, click on to reduce the number of results. Choose options from Limit Categories below.

Limit Categories:

  • Language
  • Item Type
  • Location
  • Place of Publication
  • Date of Publication
  • Publication Status
  • Medium

To limit by date, enter a year into the Date box. Click in the circle before the relationship desired. If selecting a date range, also enter a year in the Range box.

To set other limits, click on a desired characteristic from each menu to select it. To select multiple items from the same menu hold down the [Ctrl] key (command key on a Mac) while clicking.

Click on to enter the selected limits and return to the search screen. Search Limits are in effect! will appear on the search screen.

Select a search type and type search terms in the text box. Press to conduct the search.

Limits remain in effect for all subsequent searches until cleared by clicking on .

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Requesting Materials

Holds

To place a hold on an item in your Home Library (UW-Whitewater) that has been checked out by another patron, click on Requests at the top or bottom of the page when viewing the Brief or Full View of the item record.

  1. Select your Home Library (UW-Whitewater is the default).
  2. Enter your your 7-digit UW-W ID number and last name in the designated boxes. Click on .
  3. Choose Hold for the type of request. Click on .
  4. Complete the hold form by entering your ID number again and, if desired, changing the Not Needed After date. Click on .
  5. Click on Logout when finished.
  6. If the item is returned prior to the Not Needed After date, you will be notified using your UW-W email account and it will be held for pickup at the Circulation Desk.

To receive a renewed item before it's due date, request a recall at the Circulation Desk, or use UB which is usually faster.

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Universal Borrowing (UB)

You can search all the holdings of UW System libraries simultaneously and then select an item to borrow. To access, click on the UB & Other Catalogs button at the top of the page. A brief outline of this service is listed below. To view a tutorial on this subject go to the UB tutorial now.

  1. Select either All UB Libraries or select specific campuses' libraries from the list of Universal Borrowing Libraries. Click on .
  2. Conduct a search.
  3. When each Search Status reads Done, click on Show to view results.
  4. Click on Requests at the top or bottom of the page when viewing the Brief or Full View of the item record.
  5. Enter your UW-W ID number and last name in the designated boxes, then click on .
  6. Click on .
  7. Complete the form by entering your ID number again and, if desired, changing the Not Needed After date. Click on .
  8. A successful or failed request message will appear. Failed requests my be reattempted with another copy of the item, if available.
  9. Click on Logout when finished.
  10. When the item is received at the University Library, you will be notified using your UW-W email account and it will be held for pickup at the Circulation Desk.
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Catalog Help

To read online instructions while using the Catalog click on Help at any time, or refer to this or the How to Use the Library Catalog: 1. Basic Search guide.

For assistance, contact a reference librarian at (262) 472-1032, by email or chat or in person at the Library's Reference Desk.

Last Revised: MS - 8/23/2007