MEMORANDUM
To:
From:
Re:
Date:
ERQ
Eric Novotny and Lorri Mon
FirstSearch Customization Recommendations
October 30, 2000
The following are our recommendations regarding customization of FirstSearch for UIC
Library's web pages, as per the instructions listed here:
http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/documentation/adminref/index.htm
OPTION
Default Search Screen
Maximum number of
databases per search
Related searches
Library holdings display
Database Available
Full text available
Full-text delivery method
Full-text password
Topic areas
ILL access on/off
ILL processing
ILL request form (more)
Your library's logo
Links to your library's
catalog:
Catalog Search Entry
URL
ISBN Search Results URL
ISSN Search Results URL
Library Name in Link
Text
FirstSearch service
password
Administrative module
password
Session timeout
Full-text timeout
DEFAULT SETTING
Basic Search
Can currently search up to 3
(maximum) databases at once
On (find related items in other
databases)
System default (State)
On
On
Off – (allows email and print)
Off (No full-text password)
Databases in OCLC-defined
subject categories
On
blank
CHANGE/KEEP SETTING?
Change to Advanced Search
Keep at maximum (3)
Keep related searches on
Keep setting at State
Keep database available on
Keep full text available on
Off (not checked)
Keep off (no full text password)
Keep default setting
*ask the ILL Dept. advice on this
*ask ILL Dept.
*ask ILL Dept.
Add/Create UIC logo
Keep default setting
on, but wrong catalog!
Change (put in right URL)
blank
blank
Already on
Change (add URL)
Change (add URL)
Keep “UIC University Library”
previous setting for User
password
previous setting for
Administrative password
previous setting for Set the 5minute timeout to on/off
(ON?)
15 minutes
*keep, unless Systems Dept.
wants to change
*keep, unless the Systems Dept.
wants to change
Change to 15 minute timeout
Keep (15 minutes)
The following provides further detail about some of the major settings in the previous table:
Default Search Screen: Currently is set to “Basic” and we recommend changing to
“Advanced.” The “Basic” setting only has one search line. The “Advanced” setting allows
searching with more than one variable (such as a title keyword and an author name).
Related Searches: Allows the user to perform the same search in other databases such as article
databases, an online encyclopedia, etc.
Library Holdings Display: This displays Illinois regional holdings first, then holdings outside
Illinois if there are too few in the regional area. An optional change would be to show all
holdings, which we considered very seriously, but felt our users would primarily wish to see
local holdings.
Topic Areas: This option allows you to create your own categories for grouping databases. The
problem is that in future as you add or delete database subscriptions, you must remember to add
them to your customized topic areas. We felt that using this option could create unnecessary
future problems, and so recommend against it.
Your Library’s Logo: UIC’s library logo should be added here. It will then appear on pages
within FirstSearch. The logo should be 120 pixels wide and 60 to 100 pixels high. The
background color is #006699 and the font is Tahoma Bold.
Catalog Search Entry URL: This feature allows users to search a particular item found in
FirstSearch against the UIC Library catalog. We discovered that it is incorrectly pointing to the
WebZ url, and recommend that this be changed to the main UICCAT url.
ISBN Search Results URL: This feature allows users to run the search for an item in UICCAT
by the ISBN number, and we recommend offering this service to our users.
ISSN Search Results URL: This allows the user to search a journal found in FirstSearch
against UICCAT using the ISSN, and we recommend making this available.
Session Timeout: Currently a FirstSearch session times out in 5 minutes. We recommend (if
Systems agrees that it does not pose any problems) extending this to 15 minutes. Sessions
timing out too quickly has been a common complaint among our users.
For further questions about these recommendations, please contact:
Lorri Mon,
Government Documents Department
5-2738 (lmon@uic.edu)
Eric Novotny
Reference Department
6-2735 (novotny@uic.edu)