New Website, part 2: Exploring the Library Homepage

Welcome to the second installment of Website Navigation help!

Previously we explored how to do a basic search using our Quick Search Bar.

Today we are going to take a look at the new (and old) features of the Library Homepage.

Helpful Links:


At the very top of the page, notice the links.

The first three links, Northwest University, Discovery, and Eagle connect to their respective websites.

The first group on the second line, My Account/Renew Books, will direct you to your personal account. Here you can renew books, check due dates, and put books on hold.

The second link on that line, My Lists, direct you to your personal list builder. Here you can create lists of books, like "Books for Theo 2503" or "Read Me," that allow you to organize by title, author or call number - making them easy to find when you are next in the library. These last two links will require you to log in using your email and password.

Ask A Librarian Feature:

Ever need to ask a librarian a quick (or long) reference question, but you can't get to the library while the Reference Desk is open?

Using this box on our website, circled below in red, will automatically send us an email! We will respond as soon as we can - and you didn't even have to leave your room.

Please note that we must have your email - after all, librarians are smart but we don't know everything, like who you are without an email address.

Citation Help:

Circled above is our citation center. Here you will find a link to RefWorks, something we will discuss in a future post. Basically, it is a great way to keep track of your bibliographies for all of your papers.

Just below that link, you will find links to our own citation quick-reference sheets. These are continuously updated by Tru, our Reference Librarian.

Searching Tabs:

Quickly find what you need by using the Searching Tabs.

1. Books, Videos, Music, Etc: Type keywords, author, or title into the search bar to search the catalog, or click on the links provided to search for E-books, Commentaries, Dictionaries, etc.
2. Articles: Click here to search by journal title, or use the links to connect to one of our many databases. Don't know which database to use? Use the drop-down menu to go to subject specific databases.
3. Other Libraries: Use this to find materials that our library doesn't own, specifically searching on WorldCat.org or requesting an ILL.

Browsing Tabs:
This last section of the website provides four additional ways of searching. These are less specific and great to use when you don't know exactly what you need.

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Next time we will be discussing the wonderful world of Advanced Search options!

New Website, part I: Quick Search Bar

While you were enjoying the summer weather, our resourceful Systems Librarian, Adam, was hard at work crafting a new website.

So, all of you returning students and regular library users will notice that there are some important changes to the system and may not know how to use them.

Well, just sit back and over the course of the next few days Dorothy and I will show you how to get the most out of the library website!

Quickly Searching Our Catalog:

Using the Quick Search Bar, highlighted in yellow below, is the easiest way to search our resources.

Remember, this is a keyword search. All that means is that you can type in the title, subject, or author - all within the same search bar.

For example: If you are searching for books written by Jane Austen, then you start by typing Jane Austen into the search bar. This will reveal suggested searches, like so...


By selecting the suggestion "Austen, Jane," you are taken to the list of results which will look like this...

To further limit your search because the results are too numerous and don't completely satisfy your needs, a series of "Do you want..." questions will appear, just under the search bar. In this case, finding books by Jane Austen, selecting the "Do you want items by this author?"(highlighted above) link gives us exactly what we want.

You will now be taken to a list of books that we have in the library, all written by Jane Austen herself.

And there you go! You can now search the catalog quickly and effectively!

Next time, we will explore the features of the homepage itself including subject searches, helpful links, and Ask a Librarian.