This page describes recent changes made to the University of Chicago Library Catalog and known problems users may encounter. Most major changes to the Catalog occur when the Library installs a new software version to fix bugs and add new features or implements its own customizations. Such events generally occur during academic interims. However, critical bug fixes or customizations may be added at any time.
Users looking for searching tips should click here for basic information. Users who have comments/questions about the Catalog should click here.
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New Interface Now Available
Lens offers a brand
new way of searching the Library Catalog--along with the Library's Web site,
the Library's listing of e-journals and online databases and finding aids for
materials in the Special Collections Research Center. Other resources will be
added in the future.
Lens, as a completely new product, eliminates the known problems of our existing
interface (as detailed below) and offers more flexibility for discovering resources.
Some of its features include:
no need to select search type first
no maximum record limit for searches
search results ranked by relevancy (default--other sort options available)
easy navigation by simply clicking on options
ability to refine search results by a wide array of facets
format icons for quick identification of material type
tables of contents, summaries and book review links
graphical "word cloud" to suggest related topics (optional)
FYI: The existing Library Catalog interface continues to be available.
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Known Problems with the Library Catalog as of May 2008
The Library updates this list as circumstances change. Please take note: if you don't report a problem, the Library can't fix it--send us the problem or ask at the nearest Library reference/information desk.
| Description | Reported to Vendor? | Workaround/Possible Alternative | Anticipated Resolution |
| If I'm on a Search Results page and click on a Subject that has an apostrophe, nothing happens. I should be able to do a Subject (browse) search. | Yes | Display the full record and click on the Subject there. The search will execute successfully. | See below. |
| If I use Safari and click on the "Not on shelf?" or "Report a problem" links, the pop-up window is blank. | No (local customization) | Use another browser, such as Mozilla or Firefox. These are free downloads available at www.mozilla.org. | See below. |
| 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. | Yes | The feature works when clicking on links on browse search results or full record displays. | See below. |
| I couldn't recall more than one title at a time when using Firefox as my browser. [NOTE: this applies ONLY to Firefox users. Internet Explorer users do NOT have this problem. We have not tested any other browsers.] | Yes | The problem appears to be this: you complete one recall successfully. Then you make a second recall--the final confirmation window displays the title from the first recall and the recall does not complete. If you go back and perform the recall again, it will complete successfully. | See below. |
| 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. | Yes | 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. | See below. |
| Punctuation is missing when I get a list of headings after an Author browse search. | Yes | None--but you can still get to the records by clicking on the heading. There is no loss of functionality. | See below. |
| I can't use keyword for any search term that has the Hebrew alef or ayin (as a letter modifier). | Yes | 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. | See below. |
| Some records in Hebrew show a date (e.g., 2003) in reverse order (i.e., 3002). | Yes | None, but check the transliterated data immediately about the Hebrew for the correct form. | See below. |
| When I initiate a keyword search with a limit from the Advanced search page, I can't then sort the search results. | Yes | 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. | See below. |
| When I sort a list by title, initial articles are used in alphabetization. | Yes | None | See below. |
| I would like to be able to export bibliographic data rather than email myself and then cut-and-paste the data into another application. | Yes | Connecting to the Catalog using RefWorks or EndNote instead of an Internet browser allows you to pull citation data more easily into those applications. | See below. |
| 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=" | Yes | If you did a browse search, try the corresponding keyword search with the same search term--that will often get you apropriate results. But please report instances of this problem. Give us the search type, search term and what you clicked on. | See below. |
| 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. | Yes | 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. | Yes | None, but if you report this problem, Library staff can sometimes remove the record that causes the problem. | See below. |
The Library planned to install new Catalog software that would have resolved most if not all of these problems. However, a change in ownership of our software vendor resulted in cancellation of this new software. The Library continues to seek solutions to these problems and will post updated information as it becomes available. We regret any inconvenience.
Our new interface, Lens, eliminates these problems.