Salutations!

Today’s Topic: Catalog Tips & Tricks: Ready, Search, Action!

You've done your search, now what?  Melissa has demo'd some of these actions at various ALL-WALS, but they are worth repeating...     Read More...

Actions!

One of the powerful tools of our catalog are the Actions that one can do to the results one gets after doing a search. Actions can be applied to either the results on a hitlist, or to a specific title. Actions behave slightly differently if taken while on the results page than while looking at an individual title. Most notably, when emailing or printing from an individual title all the availability information appears for all copies.

Actions are found in a little drop-down menu that can easily be overlooked:

However, before one can apply an Action, one must Select which titles to apply it to....

So, here we go...

I do my search for "chet and bernie" to get Spencer Quinn's bestselling mystery series about a dog and his detective. Definitely worth reading or listening to--more than once, even!

I limit to CD-BOOK (in aqua), I sort in pub date order from Oldest to Newest (in lime green), I now have my results the way I want them.

I can select (in pink) which titles should have an Action applied. I can either check the box at the top, just left of Actions, to select all results on this first page of the hitlist, OR, I can select specific titles by clicking the box in front of any result on the page. One can only select and apply Actions to results 1 page at a time.

Now comes the question: which Action do I want to apply??  There are 4 or 5 options:

1.  Add to my Lists -- we covered this in Monday 'Minder 2022.06

2.  Email -- sends the results in an email. Includes links back into the catalog and retains sort order. Doesn't show call num or availability(unless one is on the title details page). 

Enter your email address, Change the Subject heading if you want. Click Send Email. 

Go check your email.

Really useful is the link at the top of the list "Return to the search."  It drops you right back into your exact search results in the catalog. It retains your sort order and any filters you applied.

3.  Print -- opens a new tab with a print-friendly page in the browser.  Doesn't show call num availability(unless one is on the title details page).

4.  Text it To Me -- Sends an individual text for each title selected--that arrive in random order. Only sends title, no details, no link into catalog, no availability(not even if one is on the title details page).

Enter mobile phone number and select carrier. Uncheck any titles you decide you don't want after all. 

Scroll to the bottom

and click "Text it to me." Go look at your messages:

(5).  Place Holds(s) -- Only appears if the items selected are physical materials. Allows for placing multiple title-level holds at once(unless one is on the title details page). However, doesn't work for Overdrive materials.

I use the Place Hold(s) action a lot. It lets me put an entire series on hold.  Then I can go into MyAccount and suspend the holds and later unsuspend them in order.

That's it for this week...

Share & Enjoy!
Karla