How to Access | Basic Search | Search Results | Journal Search | Electronic Journals | Power Search | Search Tips | Placing Holds | Renewals | Creating a List | Need More Help?
this guideTropicat is the online public access catalogue of James Cook University Library. All printed, electronic and audio-visual resources held by the Library are listed on Tropicat. The web version of Tropicat provides hot links to electronic journals and databases.
How to Access
The Web version of Tropicat can be accessed directly by the URL: http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/Tropicat/tropicat.shtml
OR from the Library and Computing Services homepage select Tropicat from the Library Catalogues link, and then select Search Tropicat for your campus.
Performing a Basic Search
- Choose an index to search from the drop-down list [e.g. Keywords (all fields)]
- Enter the word or phrase you wish to search for in the search box.
- Click Go to start your search and see your results.
Viewing Search Results
Search results are displayed in one of three ways, depending on the type of search you did:
- Summary Search Results - when you do a Keywords (all fields) search, the results screen displays: Title, Author, Publication Details, Call Number and Status (where the item is and if it is on loan). Click on a Title to access the Item View. You can sort these results (by author, title, publication date, title or item type) or limit them appropriately.
- Browsing Results - when you search using Title begins..., Author or Journal title begins..., the result is a list of titles/authors that most closely match your search. If you click on one of these you will get summary results if there is more than one title.
- Item View - Shows all the information about a specific title. Tropicat displays the Item View when you click on a title from the Summary list, or if your search has only one result, or if you click on a Browsing list line with only one title.
Journal Search
If you select Journal title keywords or Journal title begins..., your results will only include print and online journals (aka periodicals, serials and magazines). Individual authors or articles are not listed. Item View for journals includes a Subscription summary at the bottom of the screen. This includes detailed information on what volumes/issues are held, and whether any are missing or at the Bindery. To view issues at the Bindery, ask at InfoHelp.
Electronic Journals
Some journals are available in electronic format via the Internet. To access these electronic journals, click on the URL link. NOTE: These electronic journals are only available to James Cook University students and staff. To access them from home, you will need to authenticate via the Remote Access option on the Tropicat page at: http://www.library.jcu.edu.au/Tropicat/tropicat.shtml
Power Search
Power Search allows you to search up to 4 indexes at once. You can also choose to limit and sort your results before they are displayed. Select Power Search from the blue Tropicat navigation bar.
Search Tips
- Navigation: Use the Next, Previous and Return to Results links on screen, or your browsers Back and Forward buttons to navigate through the catalogue. Use the Tabs or the links on the grey navigation bar to access My Library Information, Other Resources etc.
- Capitalisation: Use either lowercase or uppercase letters. e.g. you can enter queensland or Queensland.
- Names of people: You must enter the surname first. e.g. einstein albert or freud sigmund.
- Punctuation: Leave out punctuation, such as commas and full stops, when you search.
- Hyphenation: Tropicat treats hyphens as spaces between words in search terms: e.g. to search for the Murray-Darling Basin, you can enter murray-darling or murray darling.
- Truncation: Keywords may be truncated using *. e.g. if you enter infect* you will find all terms that begin with those letters, such as infect, infection, infectious etc.
- Boolean Searches: You can use the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT in Basic Search by entering them with your search. In Power Search, select them from the drop down menu. e.g. Queensland AND tourism NOT reef would search for all items about Queensland and tourism, but would exclude those which also contain the term reef.
- Stop Words: Leave out common words like the, and etc from keyword searches (e.g. use man snowy river to find "The Man from Snowy River"). In Title begins... searches you can omit the leading article if you wish (e.g. Man from Snowy River)
Placing Requests
To place a request on an item which is already checked out or held at another campus:
- Click on the Request Item button in either Summary Results or Item View.
- JCU students and staff need to enter their student ID or staff Library barcode. All other borrowers need to enter their library barcode number and click login.
- On the next screen, confirm the details and click Request.
- You will be notified by email when the item is available for you to collect.
Renewals
To renew items you have on loan:
- Click on the My Library Information tab, enter your Library barcode and click Login.
- Click Items on loan on the My Library Information navigation bar.
- Select the items you want to renew by clicking on the checkboxes beside them.
- Click Renew - the Due Date column will display your new due date.
Creating a List
You can create temporary lists of items or save lists for future reference:
- Add/Remove titles with the button on the Summary Results or the Item View screen, or using the box at the bottom of the Summary Results screen.
- Manage your list from the My List link at the top right of the screen - add or remove items, sort, or e-mail this information.
- If you use the Login link at the top right of the screen, you can also save a list of items, move items from one list to another, and rename or delete a saved list.
- Email full details of individual records from the Item View screen.
Need More Help?
For more detailed help, click on the ?Help button in the top right corner of the screen, or ask InfoHelp staff.
If this information is inadequate, incorrect, or can be improved in any way, please let us know