Melvyl Brief Guide

http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b

What is Melvyl? Melvyl is the library catalog of all campuses of the University of California Libraries, containing records for books, journals, archives, audio-visuals, computer files, dissertations, government documents, maps, music scores, online resources, recordings and videorecordings. It also includes library holdings of the California Academy of Sciences, California Historical Society, California State Library, Center for Research Libraries, Graduate Theological Union, Hastings College of Law, and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. The catalog contains over 25,000,000 records.

To find a book, journal or other material

1. Select a type of search from the pulldown menu:
   

   Type of search	When to use	Example
   Title	if you don't know the title	history time
   Title (exact)	look up exact title	brief history of time
   Journal Title	if you don't know the exact journal title	cell toxicology
   Journal Title (exact)	look up exact journal title	cell biology and toxicol*
   Author (keywords in name)	search by author name in any word order	toni morrison
   Author (last name first)	must use last name, first name	morrison, toni
   Author-Organization	search by organization as author	audubon society
   Author/Title	when searching for author and title together	austen pride
   Subject	search for words in subject headings	billingual education
   Keywords	search for words in record	depression photography
   ISBN (used by UC-eLinks)	search for the book's International Standard Book Number	0940872277
   ISBN (used by UC-eLinks)	search for the journal's International Standard Serials Number	1047-2223

2. Enter search terms.
3. Check No or Yes under Words as Phrase. For example, League of Nations with Words as Phrase checked Yes will search for the exact phrase League of Nations. If you do not select Yes, the words will be searched separately and will retrieve items such as A History of the Nation’s Major League Baseball Teams.
4. Click on Search button, or hit the Enter key.

Truncation: add the truncation symbol (* or ?) to the end of a phrase to look for more words in the phrase. Add the symbols to the end of a word to look for word or word variations. Example: comput* looks for computer, computers, computerized, computing, etc.

To limit your search

1. Library: Narrow your search to a specific UC campus or to a region (e.g., Northern Libraries) or type of library.
2. Format: Narrow your search by format of material such as journals, online resources, maps, manuscripts. - Limit your search to "online resources" if you want to get only items that are accessible in electronic format.
3. Language: Select from an initial list of nine languages, or select from a more complete listing.
4. Year: Limit by year of publication. Enter a single year (1999) or a range of years (1990-1999).

To navigate among searches

After viewing a particular item from a list, go back to the entire list of items in your current search by clicking on Return to Search Results List. Go to previous searches by clicking the links for Most Recent Search or Previous Searches. See your saved records by clicking the Saved Items link at the upper right of the screen.

Most Recent Search: Your most recent search is re-run.
Previous Searches: The searches done during your current session are displayed as a search history. At this point, you can redo a search, combine searches, delete searches, save searches across search sessions, and create an Update (for more information on Update, consult the Intermediate Guide to Melvyl).
Saved Items: If you've saved items during your session, view them by clicking this link.

To manage your search results

There are several different formats in which to display your records. To see the Full Record, click the Details/Location link.

Full record

Use to find call numbers with all library locations and the full bibliographic record; allows you to access circulation status.

Other displays are available by clicking the appropriate buttons are:

Short	The default record; author, title, publication information, format and library locations without call numbers
Long	Includes short record information plus notes, subject headings and other descriptive information; library locations without call numbers
Review	Best display for scanning records; includes author, title, and date of publication

To print or email your results

1. Save items by clicking in the boxes next to individual items, or by clicking on "select all." This selects all the items in your search results.
2. Click the button.
3. Select how you want the records delivered: by email or print. If email, insert your email address, a subject (optional) or note (optional).
4. Select your records (all, selected, or a range).
5. Select the print format (short, long, MARC, short or long tagged, or custom). If custom, select fields.
6. Select the library location/call numbers you want to display.
7. Select your preferred text format.
8. If you selected Preview/Print, after selecting Go, you have the opportunity to view what will be printed.
9. Now, either use your browser's print function to print the records, or download them to your computer.

Reminders

• To get online help, click the Help link on the upper right hand side of the screen, or click the More Tips and Search Examples link on the search pages.
• Melvyl will automatically timeout after 20 minutes of non-activity.
• Send comments or questions about Melvyl via the Comments and feedback link.
• For assistance with searching, go to a reference or information point at your campus library.