Refinement options

You can limit your search in several ways, outlined below. You can add one or more options to your search query. Collapse and expand any of these option boxes using the blue arrow button above the box. When you have selected all the required options, use the 'Search' button to run your search.

Library

The search defaults to include records from all libraries which contribute to the database. However you can limit your search to one or more libraries, or branch libraries, if you wish to compare your collection with that of another specific library or group of libraries.

In the Libraries list, any library preceded by > has multiple branch libraries. You can expand the library name to view the branches e.g. all the individual college libraries within the University of Oxford
Select the name of each library or branch whose records you would like to search in the left-hand pane of the Libraries box
You can use the search panel at the top of the list to search for specific libraries
When a library or branch has been selected it will be moved to the right-hand pane
Selecting a library will include all branches unless you select specific branches
To remove a library or branch you have selected, click its name in the right-hand pane - this will move it back to the left-hand pane and deselect it
To quickly select a long list of libraries, you can select all of the items in the list using the 'Select All' button, then remove single items by clicking on them in the list on the right-hand side.
If a library name appears in italics in the right-hand pane it means you have only selected a subset of branches from that library, so your search will only look for records in the selected branches, it will not include the full catalogue for that library
To remove all the libraries you have selected, use the 'Clear all' button beneath the right-hand pane

Library Groups

You can limit your search to the holdings of your own selected group of libraries by using the ‘My Library Groups’ function.

From the Search page, click on My Library Groups to the right of the Libraries box, to go the My Library Groups page
Click on New to create a new Library Group and type a name for your Group into the Library Group Name box
Select the name of each library or branch you would like to include in your Group in the left-hand pane of the Libraries box
You can use search, select and deselect libraries or branches in the same way as you use the Libraries box on the Search page
When you have selected the required libraries for your Group click Save. Your new Group will now be included in the Library Groups list
You can also Edit or Delete Groups from this page, by selecting the Group name and clicking the Edit or Delete buttons when they appear
Return to the Search screen to see your Library Group listed under My Library Groups
Select the tick box next to your Group: the libraries will appear in the right-hand pane of the Libraries box, selected to be included in your search
Continue to input other search criteria and refinements as required, before clicking the Search button to perform your search

Region

You can limit your search to the records of libraries within a particular region if, for example, you wish to get a regional picture of collection strengths or weaknesses.

Select each region you would like to be included in your search in the left-hand pane of the Regions box
When a region has been selected it will be moved to the right-hand pane
To remove a region you have selected, click its name in the right-hand pane - this will move it back to the left-hand pane
To remove all the regions you have selected, use the 'Clear all' button beneath the right-hand pane

Note that using the region option means the search results will only display records held by one or more libraries in the chosen region(s).

Document Type

The search defaults to include all document types. You can limit your search to specific document types by clicking the required option in the list on the left-hand pane to select it. This will move it to the right-hand pane. To remove a selected document type, click it in the right-hand pane - this will move it back to the left-hand pane and deselect it.

Document Format

The search defaults to include all document formats. You can limit your search to specific formats by clicking the required option in the list on the left-hand pane to select it. This will move it to the right-hand pane. To remove a selected document format, click it in the right-hand pane - this will move it back to the left-hand pane and deselect it.

Language

The search defaults to select all languages. You can limit your search by language by clicking the required option in the list on the left-hand pane to select it. This will move it to the right-hand pane. You can use the search panel at the top of the list to search for specific languages. To remove a selected language, click it in the right-hand pane - this will move it back to the left-hand pane and deselect it.

Deduplicate

You can choose to deduplicate your search results by ISBN or ISSN.

The Compare service uses data from the NBK database, which brings together records from different libraries and where possible merges records for the same item together. However due to variations or errors in catalogue records from the many data sources used to create the NBK, there can still be duplicate records for the same item, where even records with the same ISBN may be listed separately. This is because standard deduplication within the NBK errs on the side of caution, matching on several fields to limit the number of mis-consolidations as far as possible. The presence of duplicates will mean documents may appear rarer than is actually the case; but this does allow erring on the side of caution.

You may choose to select an extra deduplication option for your results to merge additional records, with the understanding that this could introduce varying levels of mis-consolidation. The accuracy of the deduplication may be more or less important to you, depending on the nature of your query and the degree of precision you require.

You can choose to have the results deduplicated by ISBN or ISSN depending on the type of search you are doing
The additional deduplication merges records sharing the same ISBN or ISSN
Deduplication of search results will remove some additional duplication of records but needs to be used with consideration for what you wish the results to show. Errors and variations in the records can mean this results in some misconsolidations.

If you have questions about the deduplication procedure contact: nbk@jisc.ac.uk

Holding libraries

You can limit the display of your search results such that it only includes records with a specified number of holding libraries. This allows you to identify particularly scarce or widely-held materials, or to locate materials within a range.

Do this using the 'Holding libraries' slider at the bottom of the search form:

Drag the left-hand button until the minimum number of holding libraries you wish to include is displayed in the marker
Drag the right-hand button until the maximum number of holding libraries you wish to include is displayed in the marker
Drag the buttons back to their original positions to clear your selection and include records with any number of holdings libraries in the results display