This page describes known problems users may encounter with the University of Chicago Library Catalog.
Users looking for searching tips should click here for basic information. Users who have comments/questions about the Catalog should click here.
Lens offers a brand new way of searching the Library Catalog--along with the Library's Web site; the Library's database of e-journals and online resources; finding aids for manuscript collections in the Special Collections Research Center; and other specialized resources such as the University's Archival Photofiles, American Environmental Photographs and The First American West..
Lens, as a completely new product, eliminates the known problems of the Library Catalog (as detailed below) and offers more flexibility for discovering resources. Lens' features include:
| Description | Workaround/Possible Alternative |
| When I attempt to use the "open a new window" feature (of Internet Explorer or Firefox) when clicking on a link on a keyword search results display, it doesn't work. All I can do is click on the link and stay in the same window. | The feature works when clicking on links on browse search results or full record displays. |
| When I click on a Author, Subject or Series headings to see the titles, I get the message "Sorry, cannot find anything matching. Warning: Search failed." The same thing can happen with a keyword search. But if I try the search again, everything seems to be ok. | Re-try the same search again. We have identified a message in the system transaction logs that suggests an internal error that clears itself so that the search completes successfully on a subsequent attempt. If the re-try fails, switch to another search type, execute the search, and then re-try the original search. |
| Punctuation is missing when I get a list of headings after an Author browse search. | None--but you can still get to the records by clicking on the heading. There is no loss of functionality. |
| I can't use keyword for any search term that has the Hebrew alef or ayin (as a letter modifier). | Try a browse search using the search term; this should work correctly. Also, you can copy-and-paste these special characters into your keyword search term from the Windows' Character Map. |
| When I initiate a keyword search with a limit from the Advanced search page, I can't then sort the search results. | The default sort is by title. If you want another one, select it at the bottom of the Advanced search page BEFORE initiating the search. |
| When I sort a list by title, initial articles are used in alphabetization. | None |
| Sometimes, when I try to display a record or records from a list, I get an error that reads: "There is a problem with the XSLT. Check XSL Server for errors. Error=" | If you did a browse search, try the corresponding keyword search with the same search term--that will often get you apropriate results. |
| When I do a keyword search and then look at a record display, sometimes the keywords I used in my search are highlighted wherever they appear, but at other times no highlighting appears. | None |
| Sometimes when I display a record from a call number list, it turns out that the record is for a copy of something that really isn't owned by the Library. | None, but if you report this problem, Library staff can sometimes remove the record that causes the problem. |
