Essential Library Skills

Getting the Most

from the Online
Catalogue

October 2010

Trinity College Library Dublin, College Street, Dublin 2

 Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

– Access the online catalogues
– Search and navigate in Stella
– Add community tags in Stella
– Use the advanced search options in the
Library Catalogue
– Find a journal
– Log into your Library account
– Save and email records
– Request books online
– Renew books
– Seek assistance
 Accessing the Online Catalogues

• In the Library: laptop and PC stations

• Any Internet-enabled computer on or off
campus

• Via the Library website (www.tcd.ie/library)

• Direct addresses (URLs):
– http://library.catalogue.tcd.ie/
– http://stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/
 Searching the Library Catalogue

www.tcd.ie/library
Use the
Search Box

Click on
Stella
Catalogue
or Library
Catalogue
 Two Online Catalogues?

• “Library Catalogue” & “Stella”

 One catalogue
 Two interfaces
• One catalogue (?)
 Access to the same Library material, including
e-journals and (most) e-books, but:
 Stella is based on a “federated search engine”:
 Linked better to full-text databases
 In the future, it will include access to TARA
(Trinity’s research output) and electronic archival
finding aids from the Manuscript Dept.
 Two Online Catalogues?

• Two interfaces
 Difference in “look and feel”!
 Library Catalogue:
• “Traditional” search and browse
• Relies mainly on indexes and alphabetical lists
• Users can specify what they are searching
(author, title)
• Default interface for My Library Account
 Stella:
• “Web 2.0” user experience
• Google-type keywords-only search box
• Users narrow their search via “Facets”
 Searching the Library Catalogue

Ronan Fanning

Independent Ireland

Dublin: Helicon, 1983

 Searching the Library Catalogue: Journals

Luke O’Neill
Immunology: how
frustration leads to
inflammation

In: Science, vol. 320,

2 May 2008, pp. 619-620
 Viewing
My Library Account

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Library Account

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Library Account: Login

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Library Account: Login

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Library Account: Login

Enter Username and

College Network
Password

Click Login

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Library Account

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Save and Email Records

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Online Requests

Online Requests
Books can be ordered from
Closed Access
(Book Stacks on Campus and the
Repository in Santry)
via the Library Catalogue
 Closed Access

• 80% of the Library’s print collection is stored in Stacks and in

the Santry Book Repository

• Material can be requested online or by completing a call slip

• Requests from Stacks are usually delivered on the same day

• Requests from Santry are usually delivered the next day

• No more than five requests in one day

• Material is held in the Library for three days to be collected

• Undergraduates must read this material in the Library

 Online Requests

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Call Slip Requests

Call Slips
Some material cannot be requested online and you
must use Call Slips:

- Certain books (e.g.

early printed books)
- Closed Access
Journals
 Renewing books

Renewing Book Loans Online

 Renewing books

Click to see items

currently on loan

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Renewing books

Tick books
you want to
renew

Click relevant
button to
Renew loans

TCD Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2

 Renewing books

• You will be unable to renew a Library book if:

 You have outstanding fines
 You have overdue books
 You have exceeded the amount of Online Renewals
permitted:
4-week loans can be renewed once only
1-week loans can be renewed a maximum of 7 times

• Books cannot be renewed by phone or e-mail

• If you have problems renewing contact the Duty

Librarian or Service Counter staff in person
 Reserving books

• If all lending copies of a book are currently on

loan, you can place a reservation by clicking the
Request button on the catalogue record (similar
to requesting Closed Access books online)

• You will be unable to reserve a Library book if:

 You have outstanding fines
 You have overdue books
 There are lending copies available
 You are trying to reserve material you are not
entitled to borrow
• Books cannot be reserved by phone or e-mail
• If you have problems reserving contact the Duty Librarian
or Service Counter staff in person
 Essential Library Skills

Seeking Assistance
 Seeking Assistance: Subject Librarian

Find your Subject Librarian:

• On the Library website, go to “Support and Training” and select
“Subject Guides”
Contact her/him:
• If you can’t find books from your reading list
• If you require training or information on any of the Library’s services
• For subject-related advice and expertise

For queries relating to this session and the Catalogue, contact:

• John McManus: jmcmanu@tcd.ie
• Christoph Schmidt-Supprian: schmidc@tcd.ie
 Seeking Assistance: Duty Librarian

The Duty Librarian is based in the Iveagh Hall

(BLU Library Complex) and the Hamilton Library
Contact us for:
• Reference assistance
• Guidance on the use of information resources
(catalogues, databases, and electronic journals)
• Information on services offered by the Library
• Assistance locating material in the Library and beyond
 Seeking Assistance: Library Website

www.tcd.ie/library
 You should now be able to …

• Use the respective strengths of the Library’s two Online

Catalogues, for example:
• Start in Stella with broad keyword search, then refine by facet
• Add your own tags in Stella
• Clearly define your search in the “traditional” Library Catalogue

• Access your Library Account

• Save and email records
• Request items from Santry/Stacks
• Renew books online
• Seek assistance
 Essential Library Skills

Exercises and Evaluation

1. Quiz: some practical exercises

2. Questionnaire: give us your feedback!