- What's in Minerva?
- Display Problems
- My Minerva
- Search Options
- Search Modes
- Browse An Alphabetical List
- Keyword Search
Boolean operators
Wildcards, truncation and proximity
- Advanced Search
Limits
- Expert Search
- Working with Search Results
Sorting
Ranking
Filtering
Including additional search terms
Creating subsets
- Full View of Record
- Previous Searches
- Basket and E-shelf
| What's in Minerva? |
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Minerva is the University Libraries' Web-based catalog and is your guide to materials owned or provided by the University at Albany libraries (Science, Dewey and the University Library). You can use Minerva to find books, journals, newspapers, government documents, manuscripts, theses and dissertations, maps, audio-visual materials, music scores, microforms and reserve materials. Minerva is updated regularly as materials are added to the libraries' collections and currently contains approximately 1.3 million bibliographic records.
| Display Problems |
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The best browsers to use are:
- Netscape 6.2 and above (http://www.netscape.com)
- Internet Explorer 5 and above (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp)
| My Minerva |
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All University at Albany students, staff, faculty and courtesy borrowers can log in to My Minerva Account for personalized services.
Use My Minerva Account to:
- Renew your current loans
- View items that you currently have checked out and their due date
- Place items on hold or recall
- Save and access previous Minerva searches
- Access your E-shelf
If you are a University at Albany student, staff or faculty memberNote: Click on "log out" after you are done to make sure that no one else can see your library account information.Barcode verification codes are provided for non-University "courtesy" borrowers who need a Password to use "My Minerva Account". To set the initial Barcode verification code, please contact Circulation.
- Enter your NET ID in the Net ID text box.
- Enter the same password that you use for your Unix Cluster account in the Password text box. The Unix Cluster password is the password that is used to access your Unix University at Albany e-mail account and your WebCT account.
- For information on NetId's and passwords, click here.
- Enter the barcode from your UAlbany courtesy borrowing card in the Net ID textbox.
- Call the University Libraries Circulation Desk at 442-3569 to obtain a Barcode verification code to enter in the Password text box. You only have to obtain one Barcode verification code number, there is no need to call the circulation desk each time you wish to use My Minerva Account.
| Search Options |
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In Minerva, you can search the full catalog, which includes the holdings of the three University at Albany libraries, or you can limit your search by collection, format, or library. Click on the drop down boxes on the bottom right of the screen to select a collection, format, or library. You can only select one option per search. The default is the full catalog.
The following options are available:
Collection
- Journals
- Government Documents
- UA Dissertations and Theses
- Juvenile Collections
- Reference
- Maps and Atlases
- Audio (all)
- Computer Software
- Online Resources
- Newspapers
- Video (All)
- Video (DVD)
- Video (VHS)
- Book
- Microform
- Periodicals
- Serials
- Online
- Newspapers
- University Library
- Special Collections
- Science Library
- Dewey Library
- Interactive Media Center
| Search Modes |
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Minerva has three search modes: Search, Advanced Search, and Expert Search. To choose a search, click on the appropriate link in the header that appears at the top of any page in Minerva. You can use the Search mode to perform a simple search. There are two ways to find materials in Minerva using Search: Browse an Alphabetical List and Keyword Search.
| Browse an Alphabetical List |
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The Browse function enables you to scroll through an alphabetical index. Some of the indexes available are the Author Index, the Title Index, the Subject Index, and any other index that your library has made available to you.
Choose the index you'd like to browse through, then enter the text from which you'd like to start browsing. This text will appear at the top of a scrollable list. For example, entering a will give you an alphabetical list starting at a. Entering great will give you an alphabetical list starting from great. You will then be able to scroll down to entries such as Great Britain and Great Danes.
The Browse function enables you to scroll through an alphabetical list. Some of the lists available are Author, Title, and Subject.
Use Browse when:
- You know the beginning of the title
- You know at least the author's last name and first initial
- You know an exact subject heading and want to find works on that topic
- You know the call number of a work and want to find other works on that topic
- You know the ISBN number of a book or the ISSN number of a journal
Choose the list you'd like to browse through, then enter the text from which you'd like to start browsing. This text will appear at the top of a scrollable list. For example, entering a will give you an alphabetical list starting at a. Entering great will give you an alphabetical list starting from great. You will then be able to scroll down to entries such as Great Britain and Great Danes.
The Browse List displays an alphabetical list of entries, shows the number of records for each entry and indicates whether or not there are cross-references for the entry. Click on an underlined entry to see the associated records for the entry. Click on the cross-reference symbol X to see a list of cross-references.
Browse Tips
- When doing a Browse for an AUTHOR who is a person, type the last name (or family name) first, followed by the first name (or personal name). A comma between last and first name is optional.
For example: You should search for bronte emily, not for emily bronte.
- When doing a Browse for a TITLE, do not use initial articles such as a, the, le and la.
For example: You should search for tale of genji, not for the tale of genji.
- The Author (with title display) browse search is an alternative to the Author browse search. This search does not require the entry of a title. Searching by author, using the Author (with title display) search, retrieves a listing of the materials owned by the library for which the author has primary authorship.
Example: irving, john
Retrieves: Irving, John, 1942- 156-pound marriage
Irving, John, 1942- Cider House Rules
Irving, John, 1942- Fourth hand: a novel
Irving, John, 1942- Hotel New Hampshire - This search also retrieves materials owned by the library for which the person ha shared or secondary responsibility, such as an anthology or editorship. In the first line of the results below, Margaret Atwood shares authorship with several people. For the remaining entries, she is the sole author.
Example: atwood, margaret
Retrieves: Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939-
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939- Alias Grace
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939- Animals in that country
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor, 1939- Blind Assasin - This search is useful for translations. For instance, if you wanted an English version of a French work and only knew the author, you can immediately see the titles for both the French and English version.
Example: brunhoff, jean de
Retrieves: Brunhoff, Jean de, 1899-1937. Histoire de Babar, le petit elephant
Brunhoff, Jean de, 1899-1937. Histoire de Babar, le petit elephant. English - For prolific authors, try using the authorized form of the author's entire name, including author's dates, followed by the title of the work.
Examples: shakespeare, william 1564-1616 taming of the shrew blake, william 1757-1827 works
| Keyword Search |
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The keyword search function enables you to find records by entering keywords or phrases. You cannot search for terms in more than one field at a time from this screen. To do this, choose Advanced Search. The keyword search function will retrieve a maximum of 1000 records. If your search request finds more than 1000 records, you will be requested to rephrase your search term.
You can search for keywords in the following fields:
- Title
- Author
- Subject
- Title/Subject
- Notes
- Series
- Publisher
- Place of publication
- All of the above
You should use keyword search when:
- You are looking for a topic but don't know an exact subject heading
- You are looking for a specific work and know the topic but not the exact title
- You are looking for a specific work, know the author's last name and what it is about
- You know the last names of two or more authors or editors of a work
Boolean Operators
In Keyword Search, search terms can be combined with the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. The Boolean operator AND is assumed. So, if you do not enclose your keywords with " " then the system will search for each keyword separately (not as a two-word phrase).
For example: If you searched for hearing loss adults, you could retrieve records that mention "hearing loss among adults" and "loss of hearing in adults." However, you might also retrieve records that mention "adults grieving after hearing about a loss."
Enclose words with " " (quotes) if you want them to appear next to each other and in that order (as a two-word phrase).
For example: If you searched for "national guard" history you would retrieve records that mention "the history of the national guard." You probably would not retrieve records that mention "the history of the U.S. Coast Guard and national security."
Use OR between synonyms.
For example: If you searched for education or learning, you would retrieve records with either of those two words.
Truncation, Wildcards, and Proximity
You can use a question mark (?) to truncate words. The ? character may be placed at the left, right or middle of a portion of a word, but it can never be used more than once in a text string.
For example: If you searched for educat?, you would retrieve records with any of the following words: educate, educational, educated.
The # symbol can be used as a wildcard to find varient spellings in cases where one version of the word has one more chararacter than another version.
For example, colo#r will find both color and colour; and arch#eology will find both archaeology and archeology.
The ! character can also be used as a wildcard to find varient spellings in cases where a single character may vary.
For example, wom!n will retrieve both woman and women.
The % symbol, followed by a number, may be placed between two words to indicate that you want the words to appear within a particular distance from each other, and you don't care what order the words appear in.
For example, england %3 ballads will retrieve Ballads of England , Ballads of Merry Olde England and England and Her Ballads.The ! character, followed by a number, may be placed between two words to indicate that you want the words to appear within a particular distance from each other, and in the same order in which you type the words. In this case, ballads !3 england will retrieve Ballads of England and Ballads of Merry Olde England but not England and Her Ballads.
| Advanced Search |
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The Advanced Search feature allows you to search for keywords in more than one field simultaneously. You can also limit a search by language, location, format and year range.
At the top of the Advanced Search screen, there are three boxes in which to type your search terms. Use the pull down menu to choose which part of the record to search. The default is Title. You may also search for keywords in any of the following:
- Author
- Title
- Subject
- Title/Subject
- Notes
- Series
- Publisher
- Place of Publication
- All of the above
The search terms in each box can contain Boolean operators, truncation or wildcard characters. After entering search terms in the search boxes and selecting a part of the record to search, choose how to combine the terms by selecting a Boolean operator (AND, OR, NOT) from the pull down boxes on the right. The default is AND.
Limits Limiting a search will reduce the number of records retrieved. Boxes to limit by language and year range are directly below the search boxes on the Advanced Search screen. To limit by language, click on the drop down box labeled language and select the desired language. The default is All Languages. To limit by a range of years, enter the beginning year in the year from box and the ending year in the year to box. To search for material from a single year, enter that year in the first box only. In addition to language and date, you can also limit a search by format, collection, or library by clicking on the drop down boxes to the right of the search boxes. The following limits are available: The collection, format, or library you select to search will be indicated on the line above the search boxes. To return to the full catalog, click on full catalog under search options.
Format
Library
| Expert Search |
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Expert Search uses command search statements and is helpful for performing complex searches. These are made up of a three-letter field code, the equals sign (=), and a search term. You can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) as well as truncation and wildcard characters between any search terms. You can also limit by format, year, language or location by using the pull-down menus.
The following is a list of commands available:
WTI Words from title
WAU Words from author
WSU Words from subject
WTS Words from title or subject
WNO Words from notes
WYR Year of publication
WSRS1 Words from series
WPU Words from publisher
WPL Words from place of publication
WRD Words from title, author, subject, notes, series, publisher, or place of publication
W502 Words from Thesis/Dissertation note
A command search statement to find works other than The Grapes of Wrath by the author John Steinbeck would look like WAU=steinbeck john NOT WTI=grapes of wrath.
| Working with Search Results |
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When you enter a successful search query, a results list is displayed. The results list shows how many records satisfy your specifications. Each record in a results list is sequentially numbered. You can view the results list of the last search by clicking Results List on the top of the screen. You can view a results list of earlier searches by clicking Previous Searches on the top of the screen.
Sorting
You can sort records in the results list using predefined sort options. These sort options appear in a bar above the results list:
- Author/Year (d) (d=descending)
- Author/Year (a) (a=ascending)
- Year(d)/Author
- Author/Title
- Title/Year (d)
- Title/Year (a)
- Year (d)/Title
For example, if you search by Author/Year(d), Minerva first sorts records by Author, and then by Year, listing the newest items first. Certain stop words, such as A or The, may be ignored when sorting. The results list remains in the last order selected, and the sort parameter is displayed at the top of the screen (for example, Year then Author). If the results list contains more records than the sort threshold allows, the set cannot be sorted.
Ranking
Minerva can rank the records in a results list, using the words that you supply after clicking on Rank. Records are ranked according to a formula that takes into account the number of times the word appears in a record (a document gets a higher ranking if a significant word occurs several times), and the weight given to the word (for example, if the word appears in the title, it might be given greater weight.) If more than one rank word is supplied, the Boolean operator AND is assumed.
Filtering
Filter lets you define filter options after completing your search. You may create your own filter or use predefined filter options. From the results list, click Filter, then choose a filter to create a subset.
User-defined Filters - these are filters that operate on parameters that you specify.
- The Range on Data filter displays records containing terms relating to the text in the range specified by the user. For example: The Title field, from a to b, shows all the titles in the list beginning with the letter a through all titles beginning with the letter b.
- The Text option specifies that Minerva search the WRD Index for words that you determine in the text box filter. For example: Defining 'Title' as the field, and 'poems' as the text, displays all the records in the list containing the word 'poems' in the title.
- The Year filter displays all records in the date range that you define. For example: 1992 to 1995 includes all records in the list published from the beginning of 1992 up to the end of 1995.
- The Created After Date filter checks all the records that have been created since the date typed in by the user.
Predefined Filter Options - these are filters that operate on parameters predefined by Minerva
- The New Records filter displays all records added or modified within the last seven days.
- The Available Records filter displays records that currently have copies in the library.
- The 1980-2000 filter displays records that were published between 1980 and 1990.
- The Wyr=1980-1990 filter displays all records of the current set containing the years 1980 to 1990 in the WYR (words in year field) index.
Include Additional Search Term
You can modify your search by applying another search term to the results list. You will be asked to choose the Boolean operator for combining the results list with your new search term. To narrow a search, choose AND or NOT. To widen a search, choose OR. Then choose a field to search and enter a new search term. You may also apply limits to language, date, format, or location at this point.
Create Subset
To create a subset of records from the results list, select records from the results list and click Create Subset. Minerva will display the subset in a brief table view. The subset of the records can be mailed/saved or added to a basket. Each record of the subset can be viewed in Full view format by clicking the underlined number of each record.
| Full View of Record |
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The full view provides complete bibliographic information about an item. You have the option to see the record in a variety of formats that change the tags from standard Minerva tags to name tags or alphanumeric tags. The card catalog style may also be selected.
You can redirect your search using highlighted fields in the full record. For example, if you have a record by a particular author and you want to see what else that author has written, click on the author's name. Another screen will pop up allowing you to browse the Author list starting with the requested author. You can also click on the subjects to retrieve more items with the same subject heading.
The location field in the full view tells you the information you need to access the item, such as the library in which the item is housed and the call number. To see if the item is available, click on the location. There you will see information about the loan type and the item's status. There are three basic types of loans in Minerva.
- Regular loans are items than can be checked out/borrowed.
- Non-circulating items may not be checked out or removed from the library.
- Other items may be borrowed for shorter periods than a regular loan. These loan periods are indicated in the "loan type" field. For example, an item may have a loan type of "two-hour loan" or "48-hour loan."
The items status will tell you whether the item is available in the library.
- If the item is available for borrowing, the status will say "On Shelf."
- Items with a status of "In Processing," "On Order" or "Under Consideration" can be requested by completing the On Order/ In Processing Request Form. Library staff will notify you when the item is available.
- Items with a date in the status field are checked out.
If the item you need is checked out, you have two options:
- Place a Hold/Recall on the item by clicking on Hold/Recall in the middle of the screen.
- Request a copy on Interlibrary Loan by clicking on ILL request in the middle of the screen. You may also request a copy on Interlibrary Loan if the item is missing or lost.
In the full view, you can also:
- Have the item sent to another UA library for pickup by clicking on UA Delivery.
- Add the record to your basket for later action in the same search session by clicking on Add to Basket.
- Add the record to your E-shelf (you must be logged in to My Minerva).
- Save the record on disk or email the record by clicking on Save/Mail.
| Previous Searches |
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Here you will see a list of past searches. You can:
- View a list of records from a previous search - Select a search by clicking on the box to the left of the search and then click on View in the bar above.
- Delete a previous search - Select a search by clicking on the box to the left of the search and then click on Delete in the bar above.
- Narrow or widen a search by crossing one search with another. Select the searches to be crossed by clicking on the boxes to the left of the searches and then click on Cross in the bar above. Then select a logical operation from the list provided. To cross searches with AND and OR, you may choose an unlimited number of searches. To cross searches with "First Set not Second" and "Second set not First," you may choose only two searches. The "First Set not Second" operation retrieves records that are contained with the first search only, while the "Second Set not First" operation retrieves records that are contained only in the second search.
| Basket and E-shelf |
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In the full view or results lists, you may add items to a basket or to an E-shelf. Items added to the basket only remain in the basket for the duration of your current Minerva session. Items added to the E-shelf remain on your E-shelf and can be viewed again during subsequent Minerva sessions. To use the E-shelf, you must first log on to My Minerva. No log on is needed to use the basket.
For more help with Minerva, contact a reference librarian.
© 2004 Ex Libris