Last week I spent some time going through the new online catalogue, BiblioCommons. I worked through the exercises which was actually kinda fun. I learned about making lists which is cool but I had a little trouble figuring out how to request a book for purchase or through interlibrary loan. Maybe it used to be too easy? I, however, am an intrepid explorer and figured it out. It was under "My dbrl" which is funny since the book I wanted wasn't, but I digress. The advanced search was interesting but I found that if I put in "comics, graphic novels" instead of "comic books, graphic novels" I got a vastly different result. Curious, I decided to record my results:
Comic books, Graphic Novels = 1,249
Comics, Graphic Novels = 172
Comic Books = 2,014
Graphic Novels = 1,456
Comic Books and Graphic Novels = 936
I must say these numbers made me ponder. I thought that adding "and" would give me a bigger number not smaller. I didn't change any of the other parameters in the exercise and in fact, I liked it that BiblioCommons did not reset them each time. The other aspect for concern, pointed out by a clear sighted colleague, is that if you place a hold for a patron in BiblioCommons, you must log out or when you place the next hold you will be placing it on the former patron's account. As we get very busy at the Children's desk, this could be a real hazard. So, I may have to place patron holds through Sirsi instead, which is not so easy. As is so often with any exploration, I have the sense of going two steps forward and one back. Obvious progress but not without the occasional setback.
Comic Books and Graphic Novels = 936
I must say these numbers made me ponder. I thought that adding "and" would give me a bigger number not smaller. I didn't change any of the other parameters in the exercise and in fact, I liked it that BiblioCommons did not reset them each time. The other aspect for concern, pointed out by a clear sighted colleague, is that if you place a hold for a patron in BiblioCommons, you must log out or when you place the next hold you will be placing it on the former patron's account. As we get very busy at the Children's desk, this could be a real hazard. So, I may have to place patron holds through Sirsi instead, which is not so easy. As is so often with any exploration, I have the sense of going two steps forward and one back. Obvious progress but not without the occasional setback.
Aimee,
ReplyDeleteI love that you are searching the "catalogue" plus your account of adventures with the boolean "and".