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Services and Assistance > Using the LIBROS Online Catalog

The UNM University Libraries uses LIBROS (the LIBRaryOnline System) as the online catalog for it's holdings of books, periodical titles, government publications, audiovisual material, sound recordings, musical scores, and special collections. The LIBROS Online Catalog also lists the holdings of the LIBROS Consortium Libraries. This guide gives instructions regarding access and usage of the LIBROS Online Catalog. Some steps may vary, depending on your browser (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.) and your equipment (PC, Macintosh, etc.)

You can not search for article titles in the LIBROS Online Catalog. You must first use a database or index to determine the title of the source of the article (i.e. the title of the newspaper, magazine, or journal in which the article appeared). To determine if the source of the article is available, either electronically or in hardcopy in one of the University Libraries Collections, use the Journal One Search .

Accessing the LIBROS Online Catalog
Access the LIBROS Online Catalog from the quicklinks menu on the UNM University Libraries homepage or by following the "Find Books and Journals" link in the main navigation bar. You can also access it directly at http://libros.unm.edu/.

Searching for Library Materials
Use the following options:

• Words (Keywords from Subjects, Titles, Organizations, etc.)
• Subject (Library of Congress Subject Headings)
• Contents Notes (Table of Contents, Summaries, Abstracts)
• Author
• Title
• Author/Title
• Call Number, ISBN, or Report Number
• Course Reserves

Punctuation and capitalization are optional. Consider variations in spelling, such as labor/labour. Consider variations in singular and plural words, such as woman/women. Use the asterisk (*) to truncate your search terms (for example catalog* retrieves catalog, catalogues, cataloging, catalogued, etc.)

Searching by "Words"
Searches for keywords in the subject, title, author, and performer's name fields of a record. Choose the "Words" search option if you are not familiar with the controlled vocabulary (that is, Library of Congress subject headings) associated with your topic. You can use as many keywords as you want; however, starting with two or three is best. If you do not retrieve the results you expect from your search, try alternative keywords.

Example:
Your class assignment is to write a paper on African music, using books.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
At the Words search screen type african music

Searching by "Subject"
Searches for Library of Congress subject headings in the record. Choose the "Subject" search option to retrieve records that may be more relevant than those retrieved by the "Words" search. Type the words of your Library of Congress subject in exact word order. You can also use a "Subject" search to retrieve records about individuals.

Examples:
Your class assignment is to write a paper on the legal issues relating to women who own their own businesses, using books.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Subject
At the Subject search screen type women owned business enterprises law and legislation

Your class assignment is to write a paper about the author, Frank Waters.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Subject
At the Subject search screen type waters, frank (with or without the comma)

Searching by "Contents Notes"
Searches the table of contents, summary, and abstract fields of the record. (Not all records include a Contents Notes field.) Choose the "Contents Notes" search option to retrieve records that contain the contents of collected works - edited volumes, plays, essays, short stories, songs, etc. Type the keywords of your author, title, or topic.

Example:
Your class assignment is to read Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., and you know that it appears in a book of essays.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Contents Notes
At the Contents Notes screen type letter from birmingham jail

Searching by "Author"
Searches for works written by individuals, corporate organizations, government bodies, and associations. Choose the "Author" search option to retrieve records by a particular author. (For works about a particular author use a "Subject" search.) To search for individual authors, type the name of the author (last name first, with or without the comma). For corporate authors, government bodies, and associations, type the full name or the first few words of the name. If you are unsure of the exact name, try a "Words" search.

Example:
Your class assignment is to read a book written by Toni Morrison.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Author
At the Author screen type morrison, toni

Searching by "Title"
Searches for the exact title of a specific work, including periodical titles. It does not search for article titles in an individual journal, newspaper, or magazine. Choose the "Title" search option to retrieve records if you know the title of a particular work. Type the exact words or first few words (in exact order) of the title. If you know only some of the words of the title, try a "Words" search.

Examples:
Your class assignment is to read the book, Dinosaurs of New Mexico.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Title
At the Title screen type dinosaurs of new mexico

You need to know if the library subscribes to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Title
At the Title screen type journal of abnormal psychology

Searching by "Author/Title"
Searches for both the author and the title at the same time. Choose the "Author/Title" search option if you know at least one word of the author's name and at least one word of the title. In the Author box, type all or part of the author's name. Then click in the Title box and type all or part of the title.

Example:
Your class assignment is to read a particular book by Amy Tan, but you remember only her last name and that the title has the word "kitchen" in it.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Author/Title
At the Author/Title screen in the Author box type tan in the Title box type kitchen

Searching by "Call Number, ISBN, or Report Number"
Choose this option if you know the call number, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), report number of an item, etc. You are given this menu of call numbers, report numbers, and standard numbers to choose from:

• LC Call Number
• Dewey Call Number
• Govt Document and Technical Report Number
• Standard Number (ISBN, ISSN, Music No., etc.)

Example of a US government publication call number:

At the LIBROS main menu click on Call Number, ISBN, or Report Number
Click on Govt Document and Technical Report Number
At the Govt Document Number screen type #he 20.7002:d63/2

Example of an ISBN:

At the LIBROS main menu click on Call Number, ISBN, or Report Number
Click on Standard Number
At the Standard Number screen type 0679429174

Searching by "Course Reserves"

Retrieves a list of material that has been placed on reserve for a class at the request of an instructor. Choose the "Course Reserves" search option if your instructor has course material on reserve.

Example:
Look under any of your instructors' names for material she/he may have put on reserve.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Course Reserves by Instructor
Type your instructor's name

Limiting Your Search
Sometimes your search is too broad, so it retrieves more records than you want to view. To limit your search, click on LIMIT THIS SEARCH. You can limit by:

• LANGUAGE
• MATERIAL type
• Words in the AUTHOR
• Words in the TITLE
• Words in the SUBJECT
• PUBLISHER
• WHERE Item is located
• YEAR of publication

To limit by words in the TITLE, SUBJECT, or PUBLISHER, click on the down arrow next to Words in the AUTHOR. Make your selection from the pull-down menu. You can narrow your search if you are in a list of records. After your initial search, select LIMIT THIS SEARCH.

Example:
You want to know if the library has a book on Santa Fe published by UNM.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Subject
Type santa fe
Click on Limit this Search
Click on the down arrow next to Words in the AUTHOR, and from the pull-down menu choose PUBLISHER
In the box next to PUBLISHER, type university of new mexico
Click on the Limit/sort items retrieved using above data

Boolean Logical Operators (or, and, and not)
Use "or" to broaden your search by including either of at least two terms.

Example:
You want to find out what the library has on either cowgirls or cowboys.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
Type cowgirls or cowboys

Use "and" to narrow your search by including two or more terms.

Example:
You want to find a book on both bulimia and anorexia.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
Type bulimia and anorexia

Use "not" to narrow your search by excluding terms.

Example:
You want to find articles on the zeppelin, but not Led Zeppelin.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
Type zeppelin not led

Use nesting to combine Boolean Logical Operators in one search.

Examples:
You want to find out about Navajo or Apache medicinal practices.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
Type (navajo or apache) and medicine

You want to find articles on resorts or hotels in either Albuquerque or Santa Fe.

At the LIBROS main menu click on Words
Type (resorts or hotels) and (albuquerque or santa fe)

Printing and Exporting Item Records
To print individual item records as you view them, click on "Print" in your browser's menu bar. If you wish to print multiple item records or if you wish to save item records to a disc, use the export function from within LIBROS.

Click on the box in the "Mark" column, next to the records you want to mark for exporting
Click on Save Marked Records and the marks disappear
When you have finished marking records, click on Export Saved List
You are given two choices E-mail or Save to disk

To E-mail:

Click on E-mail
Click on Full Display
Click on Continue
In the Mail To: box type the full E-mail address (for example, jdoe@unm.edu)
Click on E-mail Selected Items
The message "E-mail sent" appears

To save to a disk:

Click on Local Disk
Click on Full Display
Click on Continue
The Unknown File Type screen appears. Click on Save File.
The Save As screen appears. Next to the Save In box, click on the down arrow to select the appropriate drive. You have the option of changing the file name and file type
Click on Save

Example:
Your class assignment is to write a paper on John Steinbeck. At the LIBROS main menu choose the SUBJECT search option, then type steinbeck, john (with or without the comma). Select the first set of records about Steinbeck. Choose record number 1 and record number 3, and E-mail them to yourself.

Location Symbols
The first piece of information you see in the "holdings" box portion of a record is the location of the item, followed by its call number and circulation status. You need this information in order to find your material. Locations in LIBROS are abbreviated. The following is a list of selected location codes used in LIBROS: