Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Library catalog

RefWorks No Longer Works with the Catalog

If you want to save/export citations from the catalog, you’ll want to do so using OneSearch instead, as the RefWorks export from the catalog no longer works. The CUNY Office of Library Services says it is unlikely there will be a way to fix this problem.

Another option that offers students more flexibility in the long run is to suggest Zotero instead, which still works fine with the catalog as well as OneSearch and all of our bibliographic databases (and Amazon, nytimes.com, Wikipedia, etc.).

Planned Downtime for ProQuest Databases on 28 February

Beginning at 10 pm Eastern time on Saturday, February 28, and continuing for up to five hours, ProQuest databases and services will be down for planned site maintenance. This affects:

  • ABI/INFORM Global
  • Alt-PressWatch
  • American Periodicals
  • Books in Print
  • ebrary
  • Ethnic NewsWatch
  • Gannett Newsstand
  • GenderWatch
  • New York Times (1851-2010)
  • PAIS International
  • RefWorks
  • Wall Street Journal (1889-1997)

It may also affect the display of book jacket art in the catalog and OneSearch, as ProQuest also owns the Syndetics service that provides that art.

Fastest Shortcut for Librarians to the Catalog Interface

While you can easily run searches in the catalog starting from the “Books” search in the yellow search bar, sometimes you want to get to the catalog interface first so you can run an advanced search. Here’s the fastest way to get there from the library home page: mouse over “Faculty” in the navigation bar to reveal the menu and then click “Library Catalog.”

Library catalog--shortcut to catalog interface

Update on the Catalog Upgrade

As a follow up to the post a few weeks ago about what would be affected by the upgrade to the catalog software, here’s where we are now.

Searching in the Baruch catalog

Searches can now be run from the yellow search bar, from the search widgets some of you have added to research guides, or by going directly to the catalog URL.

Searching in the union catalog

In the union view, if more than one library owns a book, you’ll see each copy listed as separate item in your search (previously, those common holdings would be aggregated together in one record display). This problem should be sorted out soon.

Renewals in the catalog

Fine

Requests in the catalog

Fine

My Account feature in the catalog

Fine (and there’s a new design for the login page)

Self-checkout machine

Fine

Laptops-to-Go kiosk

Fine

New URL for the catalog

The catalog now has a new URL: http://libsearch.cuny.edu/F

If for some reason have found yourself unable to view the results of a search you tried running from the Books search on the library’s website, you probably need to go back to the library home page and then refresh the page (just hit the F5 button on the keyboard when you’re back to the library home page). That will clear the browser cache of the older version of the page and load the updated version of the page that has the updated Books search code.

Books Search Not Working in the Yellow Search Bar (updated)

UPDATE: As of 9:30 am, the Books search is now working again.

In the yellow search bar on the library website, the Books search feature isn’t working at the moment. BCTC staff are working on updating the code for this (the URL for the catalog changed as part of the software upgrade). Most of the links elsewhere on the website to the catalog have been updated (except those in the sidebars and supermenus, which BCTC is working on as well).

This is the new URL for the catalog:

http://libsearch.cuny.edu/F?func=find-b-0&local_base=baruch

This is the old URL for the catalog that has been retired:

http://apps.appl.cuny.edu:83/F?func=find-b-0&local_base=baruch

CUNY OLS had promised that there would be a system in place yesterday evening that would redirect anyone who went to the old address to the new address; that redirect doesn’t seem to be working yet.

I’ll send out an update as soon as the Books search function in the yellow search bar is working again. In the meanwhile, plus go to the catalog directly at the new URL, where searching is fine:

http://libsearch.cuny.edu/F?func=find-b-0&local_base=baruch

Services and Functions Affected by the Library Catalog Upgrade (updated)

UPDATE: See the 24 July 2014 post for an update on the status of the catalog.

With the coming upgrade of the software for the library catalog (Aleph), access and functionality will be limited as follows:

Search

  • The catalog can’t be searched at all from 4pm on July 10 through July 12
  • Search WorldCat instead with the understanding that you won’t be able to tell if the item is actually on the shelf

Renewals

  • Patrons will not be able to use the catalog to renew items from 4pm on July 10 through July 24
  • If patrons want to renew or check out an item, they can stop by the circulation desk

Requests

  • Patrons will not be able to use the catalog to request items from 4pm on July 10 through July 24
  • Any requests for books, even those that might be at other CUNY campuses, can be handled via interlibrary loan (ILLIAD)

Access to Online Resources

  • The catalog outages will have no effect on access to online resources (e.g., ebooks can still be found and accessed by going to relevant ebook databases linked to on our databases page)

Laptops Kiosk

  • The self-checkout kiosk for laptops by the reference desk will be offline.

Checking Out and Checking In Items

  • The circulation and laptop desks will still be able to check items out and in during the upgrade period

Self-Checkout Machine for Books

  • The self-checkout machine by the elevators be will offline

Fines and Account Blocks

  • Because patron accounts will be inaccessible, no fines can be paid during the upgrade period
  • If patrons have blocks, they can be removed for a 48 hour period to allow for changes in registration
  • If patrons have a block and are requesting a transcript, they will need to wait until Aleph is back online