November 20, 2017, by Katherine Beers
NUsearch November upgrade
The new upgrade release for NUsearch, the online library discovery tool, will be available from 20 November.
Building on the success of our major upgrade in June, we continue to provide new features, improved and enhanced functionality, quicker searching options and better support.
NUsearch upgrades will continue to roll out on an on-going regular basis. Following this Blog, joining us on Twitter, and reading our library webpages will ensure that you are up to date with the improvements we deliver.
Watch our video overview
New features in NUsearch
E-journal search and browse
A user friendly journal search and browse section is available via the NUsearch homepage. You can search for a specific journal by title, by subject, by provider or even ISSN. This simplified and direct functionality provides a better search experience, if you are interested in finding articles or whole journal within the e-journal collections.
The A-Z listing offers a view of all of our e-journals collections sorted into alphabetical title order. 0-9 is for journals that start numerically eg. by date and others is for those titles which don’t fit a numerical or alphabetical sequence.
Journal search screen in NUsearch
A keyword search option is available and further filtering includes browse by subject, browse by particular provider or publisher or limit to peer reviewed journals only.
For those of you who use Browzine to search and create your own virtual shelf of e-journals, this option is still available via the link at the top of this screen (as well as from the NUsearch homepage). Our Blog post provides more information on the Browzine service and a link to download the app is here.
Journal keyword search screen in NUsearch
E-journal results display
When you have completed your search instructions on NUsearch, the e-journal results will display in the bottom half of the screen. You will see full text availability by provider and you can access e-journals by clicking on the relevant provider link.
Icons indicate whether a title is peer reviewed or open access. A list of subject categories and any related journal titles are displayed on the right.
For full details of an e-journal click on the journal title and a popup appears on the right hand side providing further information such as other availability, journal history, and additional title information.
Library locations filter for print book searches
When searching for a print book, we often have more than one copy in more than one library. Now you can filter the books by library, meaning that you can make the best choice on which copy to choose.
NUsearch help
NUsearch help within NUsearch is now all together in one place. To find it simply click on the Need help? menu option at the top of the screen. If you are on a mobile or tablet click on the 3 dots. The help section includes links to:
- Frequently asked questions
- How to videos
- eLibrary service status – to check for known issues, planned maintenance and any disruptions to library online services.
- eLibrary help form – to report a problem
- NUsearch release notes
We are continuing to develop our help section in response to enquiries we receive about NUsearch and known user requirements. You may also find supporting information on our library website Discover our Collections pages.
Kanopy – access to a free online video streaming service
The Kanopy online video streaming service contains over 26,000 award-winning documentaries, training videos and feature films which can be streamed from any location on various devices. You can use the service to share films, create clips or teaching playlists, and embed these into Moodle.
We’ve added more Kanopy videos so that you can search and discover all the latest titles in this video collection using NUsearch.
To browse or narrow your search to the collection include “Kanopy” in your search. Once you have found what you are looking for you can click directly through to a video.
Improvements and enhancements
One click closer to full text
If you are searching for online journal articles and want to include full text results, you will now only need one click to get to full text. Any other library options being made available in a new side bar menu.
If there is more than one provider of full text articles then you will be taken to the first listed in the NUsearch index, but can choose from other options if you prefer a certain publication.
The full range of choices for where you might obtain content is still there but the layout is different and contained within one screen. If you click on the full menu we’ve added a few more popular choices, including a link to the request a book form, a link to Google Scholar and an option to search other libraries.
Sidebar menu choices
Get the full text – lists all full text providers, as well as any open access ones found. So, if you have a problem accessing an extract, or prefer a different resource provider simply click on one of the alternative full text links.
Report a broken link – if there is problem loading the extract let us know by clicking on “Report broken link” next to the particular provider. You have the option to provide your name and email to receive an update.
Permalink to content – takes you direct to an extract’s host electronic platform where you might find open access full text.
See full menu – click this button to see an extended library menu with more options.
If the sidebar disappears, don’t worry it has automatically minimised, to get it back just click on the blue University of Nottingham logo and it will re-appear.
Bugs and glitches fixed
In addition to the major changes listed above, we have also resolved some of the bugs and glitches within NUsearch that frustratingly didn’t work, a brief summary of the main ones are listed here:
- Book display improvements – consistency in classmark information for large lists of books held within more than one library
- Once logged in automatic default for book collection locations now pre-selects your ‘home’ library
- Sensible suggestions for auto complete searching
- When renewing a book on loan, the due date did not refresh automatically. This has been fixed. In addition the list of loans is sorted in ascending order after renewal.
To see the full NUsearch upgrade release notes please use this link.
Since the last major upgrade to NUsearch which took place in June, when it became mobile friendly, use of the service has grown rapidly. In October 2017 we had nearly 1 million search sessions! We will continue to improve this service and we’d really like to hear any feedback you have on NUsearch, please email us with your views.
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