OPAC: What’s that?

A Guide to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library’s Online Public

Access Catalog

What exactly is OPAC?

OnlinePublicAccessCatalog

It is used in place of old card catalogs and is similar (but better) than a web browser. It tells you what the library has and if it is available to check out. A browser can’t do that!

This link will open the OPAC in a new window. Do that now and you can practice working on the tutorial as you read

through it.

HYou

Type your search in this box. You can type the

subject, author, title, or keyword. Click the Search

button.

You can also search for articles by subject, title,

or author here.

Begin by typing the word “push” in the box. Click

the Search button.

In this tutorial we will search for the book Push by Sapphire.

This tells you the word used in the search.

The search did find the movie

Precious , which is based on the

book.

The book Push is not listed here.

The search did find the movie

Precious in DVD format.

Using the “Choose search type” drop down box at the bottom left of the

page, select Title Browse. This will search for titles with the word “push” in them. Click the Search

button.

• The book Push was the fourth entry.

• The author’s name is given (Sapphire), as well as the year she was born (1950).

• The call number is F Sap.

• The “F” stands for “fiction;” “Sap” is the first three letters of the author’s last name.

• The book was published in 1997.

To get more information about this title, click the

hyperlink.

This gives you the Title

This is the Author and the year they were born (and died if applicable).

This is the Call Number, which tells you where

the book can be found.

This indicates the number of pages in the book (139), as well as the size of the book

(21 cm)

This area lists all the different branches

where this book can be found. The Eastgate

Branch has three copies of the book.

This lets you know if the book is checked out or available. Two of the three copies

at Eastgate are checked out.

Click on Character Information to

learn more about the character

• Once you click on Character Information, this is what you can find.

• The character’s name is Claireece Precious Jones.

• She is 17 years old. • She is an unwed mother. • She was abused and is

illiterate.

The genres this book are listed under are sociological, psychological, and inspirational.

The topics are listed here.

This tells the setting of the story. It takes place in Harlem

in the slums.

Click on Excerpts to read a selection from

the book. This will give you an idea of whether

or not you will like it.

After clicking the Excerpt button, this is part of the selection from the book

that you will get.

Click on Annotations to

read a brief review of the

book.

After clicking the Annotations button, you will come to this page. This annotations was

done by “Newsday.”

Annotation: a critical review done by an impartial person of a piece of work

When you have found the

record with the information you

need, check this box.

After checking the box, click on Add Checked Records

From This Page to List

You can view your personal list by

clicking this button.

Using your back button, get back to this page.

Click the Clear button to clear out the word push. This works better than

simply deleting the word.

Don’t forget to change this field. If you are looking for an author,

select Author or Name. If looking for a subject, select Subject.

OPAC Hunt

Following are 15 questions. Most of the questions revolve around readings used for 9th grade English class.

Using the knowledge you gained from this tutorial, dig down into the different levels of OPAC to find the answer. Some may be found quickly, while others you’ll have to dig into. Take your time, and most of all – have fun!

You are now ready to begin searching for information on your own!

QuestionsWrite your answers on a sheet of paper. Be sure to

number each question.

1. List the first five different titles by Toni Morrison.

Questions, cont.

2. Which two of these books are children’s books?(Hint: Don’t just look at the covers or the titles.)

Questions, cont.

3. When did the author Toni Cade Bambara die?

Questions, cont.

4. How old was she when she passed?

Questions, cont.

5. What was the cause of her death?

Questions, cont.

6. How many copies of Homer’s The Odyssey are there?

Questions, cont.

7. At what branch are they located?

Questions, cont.

8. If you look under Romeo and Juliet you’ll find a modern, urban retelling of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. What is the name of this book?

Juliet and Her Romeo by Jay Arrington

Questions, cont.

9. Who wrote the book from the answer to the previous question?

Questions, cont.

10. In what year and where was Helen Keller born?

Questions, cont.

11. How old was she when she died?

Questions, cont.

12. Name the two main actresses in the movie about Helen Keller.

Questions, cont.

13. One of the actresses is deceased. Who was she and in what year did she pass?

Questions, cont.

14. DVD 791.4372 Mis is a call number for a movie about a horse that came out in 2008. What is the name of the movie?

Questions, cont.

15. What is the name of the author of the book upon which the movie

was based?

Congratulations! You have just finished your OPAC hunt. If you would like to check your answers click here.

Hopefully you enjoyed this activity and were able to learn how to successfully use OPAC. Remember you can use this from home too to reserve books. Happy reading!