M cat tutorial slideshow version

THE MCATFinding books with the Massasoit Community College Library’s catalog.

In this tutorial you will learn:

How to find the MCat, the Library’s catalog

How to use the catalog to locate books on the Brockton and Canton campuses

How to get books from other OCLN libraries

LIBRARY BARCODE

In order to check out books or place holds on books from other libraries you will need a Library barcode.

You can get a barcode by going in to Brockton or Canton campus libraries whenever we are open.

You can also register online. Don’t forget to register using your Massasoit email account.

Once you have your barcode you can find the Library’s website on the Massasoit homepage

Under Getting Started you will find the link to MCat, the Massasoit Library’s online catalog.

The search screen will allow you to enter your search terms and search for books at both Brockton and Canton Libraries.

A words or phrase search provides a basic search on your topic if you don’t have a specific title or author you are searching for. Look at the next slide to see the results list.

Here’s an item from search for books about internet privacy.

Let’s look at item #2 on the next slide.

Clicking on the title will bring you to the Item Information screen

From this screen we can find out:

• Which campus has the book• Whether it is on the shelf• How many copies are available• The Call Number (the book’s location)

You can also search for books in other Old Colony LibraryNetwork (OCLN) libraries by choosing ALL from the dropdown menu.

Placing Holds

By clicking on the hand symbol you can place a hold on a book. It can be sent to any OCLN library and returnedat any OCLN library. You might want to place a hold on a book:

• To have it sent from another library if Massasoit does not own a copy

• To get on a waiting list for a book that has material has been checked out in the Location field

You will need your barcode to place a hold on a book. Register here.

In this tutorial you have seen:

How to find the MCat, the Library’s catalog

How to use the catalog to locate books on the Brockton and Canton campuses

How to get books from other OCLN libraries

Here’s a barcode registration link to get you started.

End of Tutorial