Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Keys Catalog How-To: LibX Plugin

(by Heather Hernandez, Technical Services Librarian)

If you use Firefox or Chrome, there is now a LibX plugin for use with the Keys Catalog.

New to LibX?  Here's what it does:

It places a little icon your toolbar that gives you quick access to a Keys Catalog search; it's asking for an ISBN to search, but it will search keywords if you just put them in and hit Enter.  To reach an advanced search screen, leave the search box empty and hit Enter.

Why is it configured to search by ISBN?  To make searching from sites like Amazon easier.  Once installed, a little Keys Catalog icon will appear on some sites--in an Amazon listing it looks like this (see him just to the right of "[Library Binding]"?):

When that little Keys icon appears, you can click it, and you'll be taken directly to a Keys Catalog search to see if we have that exact edition:


Remember:  it's looking for that exact edition--we may have another edition.  If that edition of that title isn't found, you'll find yourself at a keyword search screen--if you'd be happy with another edition, just put in some words and see if we have another edition or reprint that would suit your needs.

If there are other catalogs that you use frequently, they might have a LibX plugin as well--you can search or browse for the public LibX plugin editions.