Navigating the FLO Catalog

Welcome!

This online module will walk you through the Fenway Library Organization (FLO) Catalog, which provides access to books and other materials at eight area institutions, including Emmanuel, Emerson, Lesley, MassArt, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

We will cover a review of basic searches, how to find a book through the record, and how to perform advanced searches. 

A few tips... 

• Navigate through this tutorial by using the arrows at the bottom of this sidebar. 
• Your browser arrow buttons (back and forward) can be used once in the module without interrupting it. 
• Hitting the refresh button will take you back to the beginning of the module.

Let's begin!

Basic Search: A Refresher

As you may remember from your library orientation tutorial, there are a few different ways that you can search using the basic search box. You can use the author's name, title of the book, or keywords to retrieve search results. 

Let's start with an author search first. The catalog searches by the authors' last names first.

For example, type hooks, bell into the search bar.

In the within drop-down field on the right side of the search bar, select Author (last name first).

Click the Search button.

Basic Search: A Refresher Cont.

Navigate back to the search page by clicking on the blue Search tab at the top of the page.

Type Hooked Rugs: Encounters in American Modern Art, Craft, and Design in the search bar.

In the within drop-down field on the right hand side of the search bar, select Title.

Click the Search button.

Tip: When searching for book titles, omit any beginning articles (a, an, or the).

Basic Search: A Refresher Cont.

Finally, you can also search by keywords. This is a great option if you have a subject or topic in mind, but are not sure of any particular authors or book titles. The catalog uses Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) for searches that are not phrases.

Let's say you want to find resources on suffrage in America. In the New Search bar at the top of the page, type 'suffrage AND America.'

Check that the within drop-down menu to the right of the search bar is set to All Fields (default setting).

Click Go.

Looking at the Record

In your search results page for suffrage AND America, find the record for Women's Suffrage in America: An Eyewitness History by Elizabeth Frost-Knappman and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont. Click on the title.

Look down at the bottom of the page, to the grey box titled "Holdings Information." This box is where you will find the information you need to tell you where to find the book. 

Looking at the Record Cont.

In the Holdings Information section, Location tells you which section in the stacks the book is located.

The Call Number gives you the specific address of the book, or where you can find it among the other books on the shelf. 

Looking at the Record Cont.

The Number of Items tells you how many copies of the book the Fenway Library Organization (FLO) currently owns.

Finally, the Status lets you know if the book is physically in the library or if it is currently checked out to someone else. 

Advanced Search

Have you ever done a search in the catalog and been frustrated by how many results your search retrieves? 

Advanced Search can help with this because it allows you to limit your search results to specific categories, like resources in any of the FLO libraries, or books published within the last ten years. 

Navigate to the FLO Homepage by clicking on the Fenway Library Organization icon in the top left corner of the page.

Click on the Advanced Search tab.

Advanced Search Cont.

In the Advanced Search tab, you will notice that there are a lot of different options for filtering your search results. 

For our module today, and for your general searching needs, you will likely only need to focus on the Search boxes, Year, and Location filters. 

Advanced Search Cont.

Let's try a sample search to practice. Say you want to find books in Emmanuel's collection about the prison industrial complex, published within the last five years.

In the search bar near the top of the page, type “prison industrial complex.” In the drop-down menu directly to the right of the search field, select 'as a phrase' to only retrieve results with these words together.

Click the circle next to the Year field, and in its drop-down menu, select 'Last 5 Years.'

In the Location drop-down menu, select Emmanuel Circulating Items (resources that can be checked out).

In the Type drop-down menu, select Book.

Click Search.

Wrap Up

Great job! 

Thank you for your participation.

You are welcome to submit feedback about the module via the link at the bottom of the next page. 

Remember, the Reference Librarians are always happy to help! 

Certificate

Please enter your name and email address to retrieve a copy of your completed quiz.

You can enter multiple email addresses separated by commas. If you are doing this for a class, you may need to enter your instructor's email address also.

Feedback