MnPALS Quick Start

MnPALS is the library catalog and can be used to locate books, videos, CDs and DVDs. From the library homepage, click on IHCC Catalog or use the embedded search.

Search catalog:

• The Keyword Search (see figure #1) in the Basic Search window provides the best option for beginning a search. The Browse An Alphabetical List search works best if you know the exact title or exact name of an author.
• Select the desired search (anywhere in record, subjects, titles, authors) in Keyword Search. Click in the Search for: box and type in a word or phrase.
• Clicking on the Search as Words button below the Search for box will return materials that match all of the words typed. These words will not necessarily be adjacent to each other.
• Clicking on the Search as Phrase button below the Search for box will return materials that match all of the words typed, in the order that they are typed.
• Click Go to get search results.
• To begin a new search, click on Basic Search.
• Click Current Searches to see previous searches. Select the search you want to return to and click on view to see the results.

Figure 1

Advanced Search:

You may prefer the advanced search, which contains more options and allows you to limit by language, format, year, collection and library. You can also search multiple fields simultaneously. For example, you could search for books by a certain author on a specific subject.

Display search results:

• Results automatically display in publication date order from newest to oldest. To display results by author's last name, click on Author heading. To display results by year, click on the Year heading.
• To display an item record, click on the title of the item or the number of the item.
• In the column next to Location/Available, click on the location/call number to see if the item is checked out. The status of the item (on shelf or checked out) will be indicated at the bottom of the page under due date (figure 2). To request an item that is checked out, click on the Request button and type in your User ID/Barcode from your IHC ID and your Password is your last name.

Figure 2

• In the Results list, the status of the item is also indicated in the Library(Owned/Out) column and by clicking on the link under this column for the desired item, the due date will appear as in figure 2.
• Use Revise and Filter located above the results list to expand or limit your search.

To Save or Email results:

• In the Results list, select the items you wish to save or email to yourself.
• Click on Save/Mail at the top of the Results list.
• Follow the instructions at the top of the page.

To check your borrowing record:

• Choose Your Borrowing Record from the top blue bar.
• Enter your User ID/Barcode (14-digit barcode on your college ID) and Password (your last name).
• Click on Loans to see what you currently have checked out. From the Loans screen you can renew all of the items in your list by clicking on the Renew All button in the options just above the list. If you only want to renew some of the items, you need to click on the number of the item and then click on Renew.
• Loan History List tells you what you checked out from the library in the last six months.

Adapted from Gustavus Adolphus College, 2005.

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