BCR - AFL, September 2000 - Customizing OCLC FirstSearch


A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 Customizing OCLC's New FirstSearch By Michael Sauers (Part II) The new OCLC FirstSearch service administrative module has a number of features that can help you increase the level of integration between FirstSearch and your local library system. Last month's column illustrated how libraries can display their own logos, create links to their own local catalogs and customize database categories in the new version of FirstSearch. This month's column will illustrate database customization in detail.
Log into your account's administration module and select Custom Topics Areas under System Settings. To create a custom topic area, type in the name of the new topic in the Add Topic Area field and click the button with the down arrow (as shown). This will add the new topic area (in this example "Biology") to the Topic Area box.

To add databases to that topic, select the topic in the Topic Area box and choose databases from the list of those available under All Databases.

Select the database you wish to add and click the Add button. This will place the name of the database in the Databases Included box and place an asterisk () next to the database name in the All Databases* box. Create new categories and arrange your databases as you see fit. Databases can be listed in as many new categories as you want. Once you have created your custom categories, click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen. If you don't, your work will be lost.

Now switch to the Topic Areas of the administrative module. This area displays the list of categories that your users will see. Your new categories will have been added automatically to the bottom of the list. Use the Add and Remove buttons to change what appears on the list. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the list's order. Be sure to click Save Changes when you're all done.

BCR Publications \| Table of Contents Comments to: shoffhin@bcr.org February 27, 2008 Copyright © 2000 BCR

Customizing OCLC's New FirstSearch