Linking to the Melvyl® Catalog

Rev. 3/15/2010

I. Links to the Melvyl Catalog

Specific URL to go directly to Basic Search

Specific URL to go directly to Advanced Search

Specific URL to go directly to Command Search

Specific URL to go directly to Online Resources

Specific URL to go directly to Musical Scores

Specific URL to go directly to Sound Recordings

Specific URL to go directly to Help

II. URLs to execute specific searches within the Melvyl Catalog

Use this technique if you wish to link to a specific item or items to include on a course web page, web site related to instruction, or other instance where you wish to have a durable URL.

URL Syntax

The URL needs to contain a “func” parameter and a “ccl_term” parameter; the func parameter specifies the type of search and ccl_term the exact query. An example of such a URL would be:

To create the URLs

You will need a valid index name and a search term. Complex searches may be created, but these must be carefully formatted according to the following guidelines.

Query portion of URL

The query portion of the URL contains the index followed by the search term. You can find information on the Command Search Indexes at Searching the Melvyl Catalog: Command Search. The query can contain multiple indexes connected with Boolean operators. The Boolean values allowed are: and, or, not.

Examples:

020=0936756713

022=0001-0030

WMT=Abdominal imaging

WMT=Abdominal imaging and WID=UCB

In order for the link to function well in all web browsers, it is important that all spaces and equal signs within the query be represented by special characters. A space should be replaced with “+”, and an equal sign with “%3D”.

Examples:

020%3D0936756713WMT%3d Abdominal+imaging

022%3D0001-0030WMT%3Dabdominal+imaging+and+WID%3DUCB

Specify campus holdings(optional)

The default display shows holdings for all campuses. Use the WID index in the ccl_term to limit holdings to a specific campus. Multiple campuses can be specified by repeating the WID index.

Campus name / Code
UC Berkeley / UCB
UC Davis / UCD
UC Irvine / UCI
UC Los Angeles / UCLA
UC Merced / UCM
UC Riverside / UCR
UC San Diego / UCSD
UC San Francisco / UCSF
UC Santa Barbara / UCSB
UC Santa Cruz / UCSC

Examples of valid URLs:

URL to link to a specific record

It is possible to link to a specific record. You need to have the Aleph system number for the record to which you wish to link. With that, you can construct a search that will retrieve a display for that specific record. The Aleph system number is found on the last line of the MARC record display, e.g.,SYS 022892644.

Example:

III. Bibliographic citation software

Melvyl Catalog import filters have been created for EndNote, ProCite, and Reference Manager and are available from ISI ResearchSoft, the producers of these bibliographic citation software packages, on their web sites listed below. You may customize any of these import filters or create your own.

EndNote:

University of California [Information Provider]Library Catalog [Database]

ProCite:

Melvyl [Information Provider]Melvyl Catalog Web [Database]

Reference

Manager:Melvyl [Information Provider]Melvyl CatalogWeb[Database]

A Melvyl Catalog connection file has been created for EndNote and is available from the EndNote web site at

Melvyl (Calif.)[Information Provider]Union Catalog[Database]

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