Searching
We used to call this 'looking something up'. The OhioLINK search screens look much like the LOIS screens and they perform the same functions. You can search by author, title, word (or keyword), subject, or by some various numerical schemes.

Author: Type in the author's name, last name first. The comma is optional.

Title: type in as much of the title as you know. No need to use capital letters.

Word: type in a word or words from the title or topic of what you're looking for. Look at some of the records that result. In the record you'll notice that it lists some subjects that the book covers. You can click on that subject and get a list of all the books on that subject.

Subject: If you know what the subject is called, you can search that way. Often you'll be told what the correct terminology is, and the screen will ask you if you want to search for that correct subject.

Results.
When your search has finished running you will see a list of titles that fit your search. You can further limit the results of the search using a variety of criteria. For example, you may want to find the most recently published materials. In this case you could use the limit feature to find only those books published after 2000.

The limit feature also helps you identify materials of a particular type (books, maps, audiovisuals, etc.), with a certain word in the title or subject, or written by a certain author.

You can mark titles in your final list and save the list for later. You can even e-mail the list
to yourself to use at home or when working at another computer. Click here for help with creating an online bibliography.

To see the full record of a book in your title list, just click on the title. This step will take you to a page that gives you the author, title, publishing information, and subject. Many bibliographic records also show the table of contents. By clicking on the statement of how many OhioLINK libraries own this item, you can see which libraries have the item.

When to Search the OhioLINK Library Catalog

• When you're looking for a book which is not owned by Clark State.
• When you don't know exactly what you're looking for, and you want to explore a larger database.
• When you want to borrow a book, and Clark State's copy is checked out to someone else.
• For fun--mysteries, novels, romances, sci-fi.
  

If you get lost, and don't remember which database you're in, the upper right hand corner of the search screen will always tell you.

One of the remarkable features of OhioLINK is that you can request a book from another OhioLINK library and have it delivered to the Clark State Library in about three days. You need an ID with a Clark State library barcode in order to do this. Get your barcode at the front desk in the library. You must renew your library registration each quarter.

Updated: 15 July 2003