USER MANUAL ON HOW TO USE OPAC

How to Use
Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)

Integrated Library Management Utility (ILMU)

INTRODUCTION TO OPAC

OPAC stands for Online Public Access Catalog. It is also known as the catalog,
WebPAC, library catalog, and online catalog. OPACs generally contain records of all
the items and collections that a library catalogs whether in a printed or digital form,
such as a books, journals, maps and manuscript collections. An OPAC is a public
source which is anyone can access and use it. It allows the patron to search the
library's collection, check course reserves, and check one's own library records from
any computer connected to the internet.

THE BASICS OF SEARCHING
Certain search techniques are standard to all OPAC interfaces, although their
presentation may vary slightly from vendor to vendor. Two common techniques are
described below:
1. Leftstring.
2. Boolean.

Leftstring
It will focus starting on the first word you type, then the result will appear any kind of
word, keyword and else that begin with the first word. For example, if you type word
of ‘Origami’, then the result will be appearing:

• Origami for The First Time
• Origami Sea Life
• Origami Sculpture
• Origami for Fun

And etc.

Boolean Operators
Database and online searching, including OPAC keyword searches, make use of
Boolean logic, which uses three basic operators:
AND is used to narrow the results to only those records that contain both search terms:
e.g. (online catalog AND academic libraries).
OR is used to expand the search using like-terms: e.g. (online catalog OR opac OR
pac).
NOT is used to exclude an element from the search set: e.g. (online catalog NOT
public libraries).

For the most precise search, you can combine multiple sets of search terms using
Boolean operators: e.g. (children OR boys OR girls) AND (television OR tv).

KEYWORD BASIC SEARCH
• Author: Last name, first name; capitalization not necessary.
• Title: Complete or partial first part of book or journal title; definite and indefinite
articles (e.g., "a", "the") are not necessary. In Basic Search, the order of the title words
searched for must mirror the order in the title; in Advanced Search, the order of the
search terms does not matter.
• Subject: Controlled vocabulary search (note: this is not natural language, but
descriptor language, i.e. Library of Congress Subject Headings).
• Keyword: Offers the most options for narrowing or broadening your search.
• Call Number: Search by Library of Congress call number.
• ISSN/ISBN: Search by International Standard Serial Number or International
Standard Book Number

Step 1

Log on to Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) by using your i/c number as a patron
ID and the last four-digit will be the password. For example, if your i/c number is
xxxxxx-xx-1234, then your password will be 1234.

Step 2
a) You can access the OPAC directly by clicking on InfoTrack then Enquiry and
choose On-line Public Access Catalog (OPAC).

• Your name will appear as a
current user when you log
on.

• Usually the library staff is
already logged on to each
computer in the library for
the user. So that user are
allowed to begin the
searching without need to
log on by herself.

b) When you click on On-line Public Access Catalog (OPAC), the next page will
be displayed as below.

Step 3

ILMU OPAC consist of 4 types of searches. They are the Leftstring, Pattern,
Boolean and Keyword. Select one.

Step 4

Then, choose one of the selections. This will allow you to search based on specific
criteria like the title, author or subject names or the combinations of a few of them.
This function makes your searching faster and easier. You can also extend your
search to include other fields like ISBN numbers, ISSN numbers, publisher names and
many more.

Step 5
a) After select the search type and choose the selection, then enter the search
text of a book that you want to find.

For example, if you want to find a book entitle ‘Ilmu Waris dalam Syariah Islam
menurut Al-quran dan Al-Sunnah’, just enter the search text ‘syariah’ or you
also can enter the full title if you want.

b) Next, click the ‘Start Search’ button.

Step 6
Once you click the ‘Start Search’ button, the result list of books which matching with
the phrase of ‘syariah’ will displayed. Then start scrolling to check either the book you
want is exist or not.

• Total finds show there is 19 books that related with phrase of ‘syariah’
including the book that have same title.

• Total hits show there is 16 books title that related with phrase of ‘syariah’.

Step 7
a) After you have found the book title that you want, highlight it by clicking at the
small box behind. Now, you are one step closer for getting your book.

b) Next, click at the View Additional Information button to find out more
information about the book such as where is it located, the details and many
more.

Step 8
Click on what information about the book that you want to know. The resource details
will only be viewable after you have selected a title from the search result list as
mentioned above. There are five parts to the details view where you can get more
information regarding the resource. They are Accession Status, Binding Status, Linear
Display, ISBD Viewer and Multimedia.

Accession Status

Accession status will display in which library the book are located and amount of the
book copies that the library have.

Linear Display

Linear Display show the basic information of the book which is its author, title, call
number, ISBN and else. The call number can help user find easier where is the book
is shelved.

ISBD View

The International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) is a set of rules produced
by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) to create
a bibliographic description in a standard, human readable form, especially for use in a
bibliography or library catalog.