Guide to Finding Slides

Limiting

Start by setting limits when searching for slides. Best results come with setting the location to Visual Resources Library. Limits can also be set to type - visual materials, and medium - projected graphics, but results will most likely include other library materials. From the Basic or Guided Keyword Search Screen, you can select simple limits such as location. To set more limits:

  • Click on "More Limits"
  • Select "limits" from the menus
  • Click on "Set Limits"
  • Begin search from search screen To change or remove limits, click on "Clear Limits" and repeat the above process

Guided Keyword Searching

This type of search operates on the same principle as the Keyword search, but has the added feature of pull-down menus to assist in constructing search strings. The drop-down menus appear next to each entry. These menus allow you to limit the search to a word or a word used in a phase; to limit the search to words in the specific areas of the catalog record such as title or subject; and to use Boolean connectors. Here is an example for a work by a creator:

  • In the first box, type in the last name of the creator
  • Click on the "Search By" box and select "Author name"
  • Set the connector to AND
  • In the second box, type in a word that you want to look for, if you select a full title make sure you set the limits to "as a phrase", and click on the "Search By" box and to "Keyword Anywhere"
  • A third term can also be added

Title Searching - Use Basic Search

This is an efficient searching method to use when you know the name of the work you are looking for. Leave out any punctuation. Be sure to set the limits to Visual Resources Library; otherwise results will include all types of library materials.

  • Set Simple limits to Visual Resources Library
  • Click on "Title Search"
  • Enter title of work without punctuation and initial articles

Author and Subject Searching

Overview: Following are directions for Author/Creator and Subject Searching. These two types of searches do not work consistently with the limits set to Visual Resources Library. Remove limits for either of these methods. Author/Creator and Subject Searching often result in a large number of records. Use Basic Search screen.

Author/Creator Searching

Use this type of search when looking for slides of works by specific creators. For creators who are well known for a large body of work, try a keyword search combining creator's name and a word from the title.

Subject Searching

Use this type of search when looking for a number of similar works. Subject searches require the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings. Hard copy volumes of the list are available in the Visual Resources Library, 2213 Sangren Hall. If you do not know the correct subject heading to use, WestCat will direct you to a menu of related terms to choose from. For example, if you are searching for illuminated manuscripts and are not sure what forms of the words are the correct forms, enter alumni? You will then be presented with a list of related subject headings in the correct Library of Congress form to choose from. Do not use punctuation when searching by subject.

Reading a WestCat Slide Catalog Record

Overview: There are three views for catalog records in WestCat. These views are brief record, long record, and table of contents. Each of these three views serves a specific function in locating images in the Visual Resources Library slide collection. To see each view, click on the appropriate box just above the title of the slide record. Below is an explanation of each view. Remember, when you carry out a keyword or guided keyword search, the word can be picked up in any of these three catalog record views. If the word you searched by is not highlighted in the first screen you see, try the other views.

Brief Record

The brief record of a slide cataloging record will be the first screen you will see. This contains the basic information about the image - creator, title, type of material, subject headings, description of the original object, call number, and location. Some records contain more than one image. If this is the case, this information will appear in the Description and Library has portions of the record, below call number and location. This indicates that there is more than one image attached to this record, under this title. Each of the slides will be found under the same call number, followed by the slide number. An analogy to this is multi-volume books - volumes 2, 3, and 4 will be found in the same call number area as volume 1. For most searching purposes, this brief record will be sufficient.

Long Record

In this view you will notice that more information appears in the section labeled Notes. This additional information will include the owner of the object in the slide, the department or professor that requested the image, and other pertinent information. If the work depicted in the slide is a collaboration between one or more creators, the other creators' names will appear here. Faculty often find this view of the catalog record to be useful.

Table of Contents

When a catalog record shows that there is more than one slide attached to the record, click on the box labeled Table of Contents to see information about each individual slide. Here each slide is listed along with a description of the image. This description may be a full view or detail of an object. In manuscripts the table of contents will describe each image from that given manuscript plus a folio number. This is almost always useful when there is more than one slide attached to the record.