How to Access & Use the Online Catalog

Click the “Online Catalog” button on Apollo’s library web page

Click on “Go to CAT”

To search for an item:

1. Type a word or phrase that describes the items you want to find.

2. Click one of the search buttons. Recommend “All Fields”

3. If you prefer to search by topic, type in the search term and click “Subject”. A list of all subjects related to that search term will appear. For instance if you type in “Holocaust”, the following list will appear:

• Holocaust survivors (Other) [1 title]

• Holocaust survivors (Other) [ authority ] [1 title]

• Holocaust survivors--Biography (Other) [5 titles]

• Holocaust survivors--Fiction (Other) [2 titles]

• Holocaust survivors--Fiction (LCC) [1 title]

• Holocaust survivors--Personal narratives (Other) [1 title]

• Holocaust survivors--United States--Juvenile fiction [1 title]

• Holocaust, 1933-1945 (Other) [18 titles]

• Holocaust, 1933-1945--Biography (Other) [5 titles]

• Holocaust, 1933-1945--Fiction (Other) [7 titles]

• Holocaust, 1933-1945--Personal narratives (Other) [8 titles]

• Holocaust, 1933-1945--Poland--Personal narratives (Other) [1title]

• Holocaust, 1939-1945 (Other) [1 title]

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) [ authority ]

◦ Search also under: World War, 1939-1945--Jews

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) (LCC) [2 titles]

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Exhibitions--Juvenile

literature [1 title]

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Fiction [1 title]

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Juvenile fiction [1 title]

• Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Juvenile literature [2 titles]

Read through the list to see which subject heading best matches your needs. Notice fiction books have been included. To see the titles of the books, click on the red title link. Also notice that you may be directed to another related subject search that does not contain your search term. You can use this to expand your search.

Remember that if one search term yields few or no results to think of another related term to try. For instance, using cars to search by subject yields a few results, but using automobiles yields much more. Use automobile (singular) and you will get entirely different results.

4. The order of the words is irrelevant, except when searching for an author. When searching for an author, always type in the last name first.

5. The truncation symbol is an asterisk “*”. (for instance, librar* searches for library, libraries, or librarian.)

6. Searching is not case sensitive. You may type in lower or upper case.

To work with the results:

The brief Record Hitlist contains the title, location and availability of the items matching your search. From this list, you can click on the title to find more information about an individual item including, in most cases, a brief summary. If the item has an AR quiz, that information will show, along with the reading level.

To search other libraries:

Click the “More Libraries” button (in the yellow bar at the top of the page).

To search your home school’s library/media center, scroll through the box listing area schools. Not all of Apollo’s home schools are listed because of differing library systems. If your school is listed, click on it to highlight, type in your search term and click on the search type (recommend “All Fields”). The results will show items that are at that school’s library. (You will need to go to your home school’s library to check it out).