Quick Guide to ALEPH
ALEPH is Reed Library's Online Catalog.
You are able to search ALEPH without Signing in. However, it is recommended that you do sign-in if you want to personalize your search.
SIGNING-IN Signing-In to ALEPH allows you to place a hold on a book, renew a book, check your circulation records, change the information in your personal profile, and modify the way your search results appear on a screen. Your username and password are the same as your DEFAULT AD (Fredonia Network) logon. If you don't know your logon, you can obtain the information by accessing "Your Connection" from Fredonia's homepage. Often times, you'll find that the login password you have for the network is different from the default. Please check here if you are having problems logging in.
SIGNING-OUT It is very important to sign-out after you have signed-in. Use the End Session box. This appears when the Sign-In box changes to User is Signed-In.
How do I search in ALEPH?
While conducting your search in ALEPH, wherever it is possible, use the internal search buttons instead of the browser buttons.There are 3 main ways of searching: keyword, browse, and advanced keyword. Additional search options available include: advanced browse search (identical to browse) and command language search. Keyword searching offers a very broad search, allowing you to retrieve all records, which include a basic term or phrase. The drop down menu offers you the choice of limiting to the author, title, keywords in title, subject keywords, and so on. This type of searching offers a very broad search, allowing you to retrieve all records that include a basic term or phrase. Browse searching allows you to search the catalog like a dictionary. The drop down menu offers several choices including, subject (this is the exact Library of Congress Subject Heading), author, title, system number, call number, ISSN, ISBN, Place of Publication, and series title. Advanced keyword searching allows you to enter more than one term and/or combining terms for a single search. Drop down menus provide the Boolean search terms of "and, or, and not" to facilitate the combining of terms. The "limit" category listed on this page allows for further narrowing of your search. "Limit by Collection" allows you to retrieve items from specific collections, such as the juvenile collection, newspapers, or the Western New York Special Collections. The "Limit by Format" option allows you to search the catalog for items other than books, such as videos, and journal titles. Please consult a librarian if you are interested in using the more complex Command Language Search option. ***Please note there are many search tips and examples with each form of searching for your clarification.***
What do my results mean? There are two immediate possibilities that occur after you have pressed the Go button: Error No Hits: A screen with this phrase will appear if your search found no results. Double check to see if you have spelled the terms correctly or broaden your search terms to find results. Also note that personal names must be entered last name first (Doe, John). List of Records: You will see a complete list of records in increments of 20 per page as the default. You can return to this list at any time by clicking on the "previous searches" link that is located at the top of the page. You can reorganize your results by clicking on the headings at the top of each column. You can also limit and expand your results by using the options, which appear at the top of your results list. Full View of a Record: By clicking at the number in the left column next to each title, you can see the full-view of the record . The full-view record includes an expanded citation and related subjects. These subjects are links and can be used to create a related search. Checking on an item's status: Using the you can see whether or not an item is in. Click on the call number of the item you are interested in. If the the book isin, it will show as "available" . If there is a due date , the item is due back in the library on the date indicated. At this screen you may also request this book to be held for you, once it is returned. Basket: You can mark records of possible interest by saving them to a basket. This is helpful if you are doing many searches. You mark records by clicking on the box to the left of the record in the brief view and clicking on "add to basket" which is located at the top of the page. You can also choose an item for the basket from the item's full-view. To see your basket items, click on the "basket" link in the top right hand side of page.
Additional Search Tips:
You will see a complete list of records in increments of 20 per page as the default. You can return to this list at any time by clicking on the "previous searches" link that is located at the top of the page. You can reorganize your results by clicking on the headings at the top of each column. You can also limit and expand your results by using the options, which appear at the top of your results list.By clicking at the number in the left column next to each title, you can see the full-view of the record . The full-view record includes an expanded citation and related subjects. These subjects are links and can be used to create a related search.Using the you can see whether or not an item is in. Click on the call number of the item you are interested in. If the the book isin, it will show as "available". If there is a due date , the item is due back in the library on the date indicated. At this screen you may also request this book to be held for you, once it is returned.You can mark records of possible interest by saving them to a basket. This is helpful if you are doing many searches. You mark records by clicking on the box to the left of the record in the brief view and clicking on "add to basket" which is located at the top of the page. You can also choose an item for the basket from the item's full-view. To see your basket items, click on the "basket" link in the top right hand side of page. ALEPH is NOT case sensitive. Example: Computer=COMPUTER=computer Punctuation: Ignore all punctuation (including commas, periods and exclamation points), except for hyphenated words. You may either use the hyphen or enter the phrase as two words. The ? symbol finds matches that contain parts of words. For example, catalo?=catalog, catalogs, catalogue, etc. It also helps with variant spellings. For example, col?or retrieves color and colour. Use this symbol only once within a word. For additional search tips, consult the HELP button at the top of the ALEPH screen.