This is the final week of our reponses to your feedback from the TRACpac Survey.  The following address your comments and questions about searching the catalogue.

Searching is frustrating because if I put in the author's name with just first initial, any entries with the author’s full first name won’t show up. I end up searching both.  I’d also like it to search for alternate spellings of first names: If the name I put in is Jackie, I’d like to see Jacquie, too. Not all libraries catalogue the authors the same way, compounding the problem (but I think it may have gotten better just lately): one will use first initial, another will spell the first name wrong, etc., and similarly with book titles.

It would be nice if the search device did not need the correct spelling for an item and could offer suggestions for items that were close to your spelling.

Although the search device does occasionally offer a suggestion as to “did you mean,” admittedly it is often not as helpful as the same feature in Google.  A useful search tool to use in instances of uncertain spelling-- or with initials--is the asterisk *, also known as a wildcard search command. The * replaces the rest of a word. For example, in the author field of the Advanced Search try searching for [barnbrook, j*]. This will retrieve both Jacque Barnbrook, and Jacquie Barnbrook. Or, try finding author Sue Farrell Holler by just typing [holler, s*].

Another option, particularly useful when uncertain of an exact title or an exact author name, is to use the Browse search. This feature allows you to browse the TRAC catalogue’s indices. You can browse the author index, the title index, the subject index, and the series index (and the call number index of a specific library only, if you have switched your search to that library). For example, in the author index, you can type the author’s last name (or the first few letters of the last name) and retrieve all of the authors with the same last name (and authors before and after that last name alphabetically). Each author entry includes a number indicating how many titles in the catalogue are connected to that author. The author’s name is clickable and will display the titles for that author. Similarly with the title index, you can type the first few words of a title and then scroll through all of the titles starting with those words to find the one you meant.

For more search tips, please click the Help tab and select “How Do I...Search the Catalog."

I would like to be able to search specifically for non-fiction books.

To limit your search to non-fiction books, use the Advanced Search option, which gives you the power to specify the types of titles you want. For example, if you would like books only, about horses, but no fiction stories, create a search as follows:

Using the Advanced Search option--
Subject = horses
Then change the AND to the left of the next search field to NOT
Any Field = fiction
and further down, select Limit By = book

This search will retrieve many results, all of them about horses, in book format only, and all non-fiction.

I find it confusing to find the information on whether our library has the book or not. Sometimes I can figure it out, but when searching in the library local availability should mean that library.  I wish I could search just my library’s database from home and then expand.

I have found on occasion that I will get results that list an item but show as 0/0 available, but when I open the full availability listing, there are copies available. This is not consistent on any particular book; the results are usually normal if I check the same item later. It seems to be some sort of search/display issue?

To find out what your local library holds it is necessary to go one step further than the TRACpac portal page’s keyword search to do your search.  When at the portal page, in the search box at the top right corner of the page, click on the Advanced Search link to take you into the TRACpac catalogue.  Once there, confirm that the top centre of your screen displays the name of your library.  If it says “The Regional Automation Consortium (TRAC)” instead, then before you run your search, go to the very top right corner of the screen where it says “switch to another branch” and choose your library.  Now your local library should display at the top centre of your screen.

This step is important because it determines what “Local Availability” will mean.  If you leave the centre of the page as the Consortium, then “Local Availability” in your search results is going to mean within all of TRAC, which will be identical to the “TRAC Availability."  However, once you have switched to your library, then “Local Availability” will mean your library specifically, and it will ensure that your library displays at the top of the “Where Is It” list rather than having to scroll through all the libraries to find yours.

If you wish, you may run your search now, or you may take a second step to further limit to your local library.  If you wish to run your search now, the results will include your library (whether it holds the item or not) and other libraries in TRAC that do have the item.  The “Local Availability” will state how many copies your library has available, for example 0 (of 0) or 0 (of 1) or 1 (of 1), and then it will state the TRAC Availability, for example 2 (of 2).  If your library has the item, your library will be listed first in the list when you click “Where Is It."  If the “Local Availability” is 0 (of 0) then your library will not appear in the list.

However, if you find it annoying to have to look through all the 0 (of 0) results for your library to find an item that your library DOES have, you can limit further before running your search, so that ONLY results that your library does have, appear.   In the Search area at the top left of the screen, click the Limit by field and select “all formats at this branch."  This will eliminate the “Local Availability” 0 (of 0) results from your search and will return only results held by your library.  And again, your library will be listed first in the “Where Is It” list.  However, please be careful to remember that if a desired result does not appear, it only means your library doesn’t have it, and it may still be available elsewhere in TRAC.  To find out, you will need to re-run your search, with the Limit by field on “all formats” rather than just “all formats at this branch."

Occasionally items come up which appear to have nothing to do with the requested item. I have always assumed this is because it was a “keyword” search, but it can be annoying. 

To obtain more precise search results there are a few options. Rather than doing a keyword search from the TRACpac portal page, select the Advanced Search link, which will take you into the TRACpac catalogue where you can either do an Advanced search or a Browse search. The Advanced search provides a variety of fields that you can specify to search within (title/subject, etc.), and allows for combining (and/or) and excluding (not) specific search terms.

The Browse search allows you to browse the TRAC catalogue’s indices. You can browse the author index, the title index, the subject index, and the series index (and the call number index of a specific library only, if you have switched your search to that library). For example, in the title index, you can type the first few words of a title and retrieve all the titles starting with those words, as well as scroll through other titles before and after the actual search terms you inputted. This makes it possible to locate an item even if you do not know the exact title or spelling. Beneath the displayed titles the formats available for that title will appear, e.g. book, video, large print, etc. If you want to find items on a particular subject, you can browse the subject index by typing in a word that describes the topic you are seeking. The subject terms used in TRACpac will display alphabetically along with a count of how many titles are available for each subject. The subject index will also help you narrow down your topic by suggesting divisions within the broader subject to pinpoint what you are looking for.

For many helpful tips on how to refine search strategies please click the Help tab and choose “How Do I…Search the Catalog”.
 

I have a family of heavy readers. We are constantly searching for the next author or series. We use TRAC often to check out books as although our local libraries have an excellent selection we have read most of the books that interest us and enjoy the ability to find more titles from a favourite author, etc. My only complaint about TRAC is you pretty much already need to know the name of the book or author that you are looking for. We use the website Fantastic Fiction to research more titles, authors, series. It would be nice if TRAC either promoted the use of this website or created similar abilities within their own.

The Fantastic Fiction website (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk) is indeed an excellent website for providing lists of new authors on the scene, new books just published, and titles coming soon.

However, that information can be found in TRACpac!  When you click on the "Full Display" button on the record of the book you are looking for, a menu on the right hand side will appear.  There will be links that will feature any number of options, from similar titles, similar authors, series information, reviews, and much more.  This is the NoveList Plus feature at work in the catalogue. 

You can also access this robust e-Resource from the e-Resources list in the catalogue.  NoveList Plus also offers recommended reading lists divided by fiction genres and non-fiction subjects for adults, teens, and juvenile readers; lists of award winners; an “if you liked this book” also try “these titles”; book discussion group guides; a link from the title to a list of all the titles in that series; and a Subjects/Appeals search feature that allows patrons to search for titles of specific genre, storyline, pace, tone, writing style.  More information that you could imagine!  When titles in NoveList Plus are available in TRAC, there will be a link to the catalogue that you can click and place a hold on the title!

To access Novelist Plus from the TRACpac portal page, go to the Search box at the top right of the screen. Select the “Search e-Resources” tab and click the “View All” link. Go to the “Literature...” category, in which you will find NoveList Plus. Log in using your patron barcode and password. NoveList Plus is accessible from the library or remotely from home.

I have noticed that some large print books are mixed in with normal print books in one item record. This is not helpful for people needing large print, as they have to take the extra step of getting the librarians to request the specific copy.

At times, an individual library may accidentally add a large print book to a regular print record or vice versa by mistake. This is inconvenient for the patron who specifically needs to receive a large print item, but may incorrectly receive a regular print size. When this happens, please alert your library and advise them of the mistake so they may take steps to correct the record.

Indeed, for the patron who specifically needs large print, it may be best to ask the librarian to place a specific copy hold to guarantee that the correct size of print is received.