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Help on using the Rubislaw Library Catalogue

The benefits of using an online catalogue are that you can browse and search the library in different ways - and do this from the comfort of your own home! Then pick up the item(s) you have identified when you are next down at the Centre.

The link from the Church website takes you directly to a listing of our library within the ‘LibraryThing’ website. The top of the page should look like this:
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Note : You do not need to 'sign-in' or 'join' LibraryThing. The LibraryThing website contains links to many other library collections. You should ignore the main brown banner heading and its tabs and search box, all of which will take you away from our own catalogue.

The main options you will use are below the brown banner, starting with a pull down that is set to ‘All Collections'. Our Library is arranged into several collections that correspond to the different shelving areas we have used (e.g. Bibles, Children's Section). If, for example you select 'Christian Literature' from this drop down list, you will then see only the titles shelved in that section. Try this and then switch back to 'All Collections'.

The contents of our library can be viewed in 2 different formats, controlled by the ‘List’ and ‘Covers’ options below the brown banner. Try out those different options.

For any item in the current List view, clicking on the icon to the left of the + icon on the far right of the line allows you to view details, including a review (summary) of the item by a member of our Education Committee. It also shows you the Collection in which the title is shelved. To get back to the main List view from  this screen use the back arrow on the browser. (Do not use the home option in the brown banner).


Now try out the Covers view. Clicking on a particular cover provides you with more information. 

The next two options, ‘Tags’ & ‘Authors’, provide a way of filtering down the collection. For example if you click on Tags and then select the tag ‘Daily', you will then see all the titles that have a daily reading or devotion aspect to them. You can view this subset with either the List or a Covers view. Click on the [x], after your selected Tag (e.g. 'Daily'), to remove the filter. 
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Similarly if you click on Authors, you can select a particular author. Again, clicking the [x] will remove the filter. 

Additionally you can use the Search this Library field and button to the right, below the brown banner, to search the Rubislaw Library using any word or phrase of your choice. For example, a search of the word Moses will reveal 4 titles in our collection. Again, clicking the [x] will remove the search filter. 

(Note: Be careful to avoid using the Search site within the brown banner. If you do this, you will be searching all of LibraryThing's many library catalogues. A search of the same word, Moses, using that field will reveal over 4000 entries, many of which refer to the biblical character, but many of which don't!).

The whole library takes up several pages and you will see that you can select 'next page' or click a particular page number to the right of this to see additional pages. 

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In List view, one other feature you might find useful is the ability to click on the column headings to order the listing. For example, clicking on Title, orders alphabetically by title, etc.

If you make a note of the book or other item you are interested in, remember also to make a note of its 'Collection' name as well, as that will help you to quickly locate it on the shelves. 

We hope you have fun browsing our library catalogue and identifying many titles to read, listen to or view.


Dave Whitcombe
Education Committee Convenor
14/12/2013



Rubislaw Church:  Growing together, sharing God's love, building faith, bringing hope.
Rubislaw Parish Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity No.  SC015841