LOUIS Help Page
GENERAL INFORMATION
SEARCH TIPS
What
is LOUIS?
LOUIS is the library
catalog for the Law Library at the University of Mississippi.
You can search LOUIS using a web browser; LOUIS also has a telnet version.
From the web version of LOUIS, you can also link to information about the
Law Library, to other library catalogs, and to many indexes and databases.
The catalog is named
for Louis Westerfield, dean of the law school from ??? until his death at the age of 57 in 1996.
Dean Westerfield was the first African-American dean of a ?? law school. LOUIS is also an acronym
for Legal On-Line University Information Services.
What
is included in LOUIS?
The catalog includes
records of the books and other material (journals, audiotapes, microfilm,
etc.) the Law Library owns. For each book or other item, the record typically
includes its author, title, publisher, date of publication, and subject headings
that catalog librarians have assigned. The record also includes the item’s
call number and location in the library, as well as whether the item is currently
checked out.
What
is not included in LOUIS?
LOUIS does not include
the full text of the books and other materials in the Law Library: it is a
tool for finding them. (LOUIS does include some URLs for items that are available
on the Internet; you can follow the link to read them online.)
LOUIS also does not
provide indexing for chapters, articles, and cases within larger sets. For
example:
LOUIS will tell
you that the Law Library owns Nimmer on Copyright, but it will not
tell you whether that multi-volume treatise has a chapter on copyrighting
computer algorithms. To get that level of detail, you would need to use
the treatise’s index.
LOUIS will tell
you that the Law Library owns United States Reports, a series that
publishes United States Supreme Court cases, but it will not tell you which
volume of that set has Miranda v. Arizona. To find that, you might
use a table of cases. (For help, see a reference librarian. )
LOUIS will tell
you that the Law Library subscribes to the Mississippi Law Review,
but it will not tell you whether the Mississippi Law Review has published
an article on DNA fingerprinting. For that, you should use an index, like
LegalTrac.
LOUIS does not include
books and other materials that are not in the Law Library collection. To
find books in other libraries, search their catalogs. For example, to find
books in other UM libraries, search in the UM Libraries Catalog
.
Can
I look at my own library record?
Yes. In the blue navigation
bar to the left of the main LOUIS screen, click on View Your Library Record.
You will be prompted to type in your name and your barcode number. Your barcode
number is the number on the front of your Ole Miss ID card below your photograph (if you are a UM student) or the barcode
you received when you registered as a borrower (if you are not a UM student).
Your barcode number will not display as you type it.
After you type in your
name and barcode number, click on the gray bar labeled "Display record
for person named above."
You will be able to
see:
- your name and
address (if your address is incorrect, please tell a Circulation staff
member);
- the books and
other materials that are checked out to you and when they are due;
- the books and
other materials that you have requested (placed holds on).
You can renew a book
that you have checked out if it is close to its due date. You may also cancel
holds you have placed.
If you have any questions
about your library record, contact the Circulation Desk, (662) 915-6824.
How can
I request a book that is checked out?
When you are viewing
a catalog record in LOUIS, you may see that the book (or other material)
is already checked out. If so, you can click on the blue "REQUEST"
button at the top of the screen. You will be prompted to type in your name
and barcode. After that, you will see the catalog record again. If the record
includes more than one item -- for instance, if the Law Library owns several
copies of one book or if a periodical title has many volumes -- you will need
to select which item you want. After you select an item, clicking on the "REQUEST
SELECTED ITEM" button sends a message to the library to put a hold on
it for you. You will be notified when the item is returned to the library
so that you can pick it up and check it out.
How
can I protect the privacy of my library record?
The Law Library does
not give out information about you or what you have checked out to anyone.
You should not give
your barcode number to other people.
If you are at a library
terminal or other workstation that is shared by others, click on the "Start
Over" button after you are through looking at your information. That
clears your information and takes you back to the main LOUIS screen.
If you do not
click "Start Over" and instead use the browser’s "Back"
button to leave the display of your record, then someone using the terminal
after you might be able to use the "Forward" button to look at your
record. The terminals in the Law Library are set to reboot themselves after
several minutes of inactivity, so if you forget to click "Start Over"
and just walk away from the terminal, there is only a limited time that your
information will remain on the screen.
What
is the telnet display?
LOUIS’s telnet
display is a character-based interface that does not use a web browser. To
use it, you only need to be able to press keys on a keyboard. People who have
trouble using a mouse and a graphical display will find the telnet display
easier to use. You may often find that is faster than the web version, as
well.
To use the telnet display,
you need to have telnet software on your computer. For information about telnet,
click here. For special
features of the Telnet version of the Libraries catalog, click here.
What
databases can I connect to from LOUIS?
If you are a University
of Mississippi user, you can connect to three indexes of legal periodicals:
LegalTrac, the Current Index to Legal Periodicals, and HeinOnline. From LOUIS, you can also connect to Authority on Demand, which is an on-line database of hundreds of Matthew Bender publications, many of which are considered the best authority in their Congressional Universe,
a service that offers indexing and full text of congressional hearings, reports,
and more. Other databases of interest to law library patrons include the CCH Research Network (business and finance publications), the CCH Tax Research Network, and BNA Tax Portfolios.
The UM Libraries ELectronic Databases List is a website maintained by the University of Mississippi Libraries.
It in turn links to dozens of databases in fields from business to medicine,
anthropology to engineering.
Why
are some databases only available to UM users?
The Law Library and
the University of Mississippi Libraries pay licensing fees to make commercial
databases available to UM students, faculty, and staff. Our licenses do not
include making the databases available to anyone with web access. On the other
hand, we are pleased to make the catalog available to anyone who wants to
use it.
How
can I learn to search LOUIS?
Help screens give tips
for searching. You may start from these pages, or you may click on Help wherever
you see it on a screen. Click here for an
index of help screen topics.
If you are in the Law
Library, ask for assistance at the Reference Desk.
You can ignore punctuation
and capitalization
Words in the author,
title and subject searches must be typed in the correct order, beginning with
the first word. If there is no exact match, your search will display a browse
list.
To perform a new search
of the same type, select Another Search. To perform a new search of
a different type but in the same version of the catalog, select Start Over.
For a new search in a different version of the catalog, select Start Over
and select the desired version of the catalog. To re-do the same search in
a different catalog version, select from the pull-down menu above the search
results on the screen.
LOUIS includes a variety
of cross-references to make your research more effective. For example:
Authors
If you search for
berring bob
as an author, you
will see a message that this catalog uses
Berring, Robert C.
with a link so that
you can search without retyping the name.
If you search for
washington association
of cities
you will see a cross-reference
to
Association of Mississippi
Cities
Subjects
If you search for
death penalty
as a subject, you
will see a message that this catalog uses
capital punishment
with a link so that
you can search without retyping the subject.
Titles
If you find the record
for the American Bar Association Journal, you will see an entry that
the journal’s title changed to ABA Journal; you only need to
click on the link to find the current record.
When you perform a
Keywords search, you can choose limits at the time of your search by using
the pull-down menus and the date fields in the search window.
When you perform other
types of searches - e.g., Author or Title - you run the search first and then
choose Limit/Sort.
Several limits can
be applied at one time. However, only one term can be selected from each pull-down
menu on the limit boxes. Search results can be limited in the following ways:
Year of publication
Library location
Publication type
Language
(Note: Type the first letter of the desired language to scroll
quickly through the list.)
Keywords in the title, author, subject or publisher information
(Note: One- and two- letter words can be searched here; connectors
cannot be used because they will be treated as distinct words.)
Illustration type
Date of cataloging
|
To back out of the
limit and return to the results of your original search, press Back and then
Previous Screen.
Search results can
be sorted by date with the most recent date first.
MORE ABOUT LIMITING
AND SORTING
What is Limiting?
Limiting is a way to
narrow your search. You can start with a broad search -- say, all library
materials with "constitutional" in the title, or all library materials
with "criminal law" in the subject heading -- and then look for
the items among the large number that you found that also have some
other characteristic.
What are some examples
of Limiting a Search?
Here are some examples.
The numbers indicate how many items were in the catalog when the searches
were run on March 29, 1999. When you run the searches, the numbers could be
different, depending on what the Law Library has acquired.
SUBJECT search: criminal
law (2,181 entries)
Limit to LANGUAGE: English (1,101 entries)
SUBJECT search: criminal
law (2,181 entries)
Limit to LANGUAGE: Japanese (522 entries)
SUBJECT search: criminal
law (2,181 entries)
Limit to MATERIAL Type: video record (1 entry)
SUBJECT search: criminal
law (2,181 entries)
Limit to LANGUAGE: English
and
WHERE item is located: Reserve
and
YEAR of Publication: after 1990 (13 entries)
KEYWORDS search:
employment discrimination (121 entries)
Limit to PUBLISHER: bureau of national affairs (8 entries)
KEYWORDS search:
employment discrimination (121 entries)
Limit to WHERE item is located: Reserve (6 entries)
KEYWORDS search:
human rights (1,342)
Limit to Words in the SUBJECT: china (30 entries)
SUBJECT search: taxation
(3,807 entries)
Limit to PUBLISHER: research institute (41 entries)
SUBJECT search: torts
(704 entries)
Limit to Words in SUBJECT: outlines
and
WHERE item is located: Reserve (10 entries)
How can I sort results?
LOUIS usually displays
the results of a search in alphabetical order by title. If you would like
results sorted by date of publication instead, click on the blue LIMIT THIS
SEARCH button, then choose SORT RESULTS BY YEAR.
SOME
MORE TELNET INFO
Special
features of the Telnet Version of the Libraries Catalog
In looking at the results
of an author search in the telnet version, you can jump ahead in the results
list by typing a title; in the Web version you must jump by number.
You can limit the results
of an Author/Title Keywords Search.
You can combine limits
with AND and OR. You can also select multiple terms from the language, material
type, publisher, words in author, words in title, words in subject limits.
You can also do successive limits on a retrieved set.
One can search for
a specific volume.
The public notes from
the item records will display.
With special software,
characters in Chinese, Japanese and Korean show better.
Export functions can
sort by title and year. You can also remove duplicates and delete records.
Export of the full record to e-mail includes summary holdings when check-in
records are present.
Search history appears.
In the scope notes
of authority records, information on broader/narrower headings or earlier/later
headings.
To print whatever is
on the screen, go to File in the menu bar of the browser and choose Print.
(You can also click on the printer icon.)
In Internet Explorer
4.0, you can print just part of the screen. Highlight what you would like
to print, go to File/Print in the menu bar and click in the Selections radio
button under Print range. Then click on OK.
To print lists of selected
records, mark the desired records, click Save Marked Records, then
Export Saved Records and Send List to Browser for printing.
Be sure to Clear Saved Records when done.
Press P for Print,
then choose whether you want to print to a printer or to save your records
to a disk or to send them to an email account.
Saving records
You can use the export
function to e-mail, print or save records to disk. This may be done with a
single record or a selected list of records.
From a single record,
clicking the Export button in the upper right hand corner will save
the record.
From a list of records,
click in the mark box next to the records you'd like to export. Then click
on the Save Marked Records button on the bottom of the screen.
Records will continue
to accumulate until the session is ended, even if you change the type of search
you're doing. Note: On public terminals, if the person before did not
clear their session and it hasn't timed out, you could have records from the
previous person in your list.
Exporting records
Once you have saved
one or more records click on the Export Saved Records button in the
upper right hand corner. Choose the format you want and whether you want the
list to be sent to an e-mail address, the browser, or a disk. ("Exporting
to the browser" simply displays the records on your screen. Once the
records are displayed, you may print using the browser's print funtion.)
Note:You cannot
delete individual records from this screen in the Web version. The Clear
Saved Records button will delete the entire list.
Saving records
As in the Web version,
you can use the export function to e-mail, print or save records to disk in
telnet OPAC. This may be done with a single record or a selected list of records.
From a single record,
type "e" in the command line (E> Mark item for Export). This
will save the record to a list.
From a list of records,
you also type "e" in the command line. Fill in the numbers of the
records you'd like to save at the next prompt.
Records will continue
to accumulate until the session is ended, even if you change the type of search
you're doing. Note: if the person before did not clear their session
and it hasn't timed out, you could have records from the previous person in
your list.
Output from Export
When you are ready
to work with your list, type "n" for New Search. On the search menu
type "e" for Export/View Save List. Here's the menu you'll see:
Export marked records
4 Marked Records in List
E > EXPORT marked records
V > VIEW marked records
C > CLEAR list of marked records
Q > QUIT
Choose one (E,V,C,Q)
Choose "e"
when you are ready to output your list. Choose from the first menu whether
you would like this in Full, Brief, or MARC format. The next menu allows you
to print, email or capture to disk your list. Use your full address in email.
To perform a capture,
first press "c" from the menu. You will see the message Innopac
ready to export. Turn on the PC or Macintosh terminal emulation software's
capture feature. In WinQVT this is accomplished by clicking on File in the
Menu bar and Logfile. A window will appear where you may choose where your
file is downloaded and name the file. When you click on save, any records
displayed will be saved to disk. Pressing the space bar will scroll the contents
of your list. When you see the Export complete message, go back to File and
click on Logfile so that it unchecks. "y" clears your saved list.
Going to View on the
Export marked records menu allows you to see your list, delete individual
records from the list and sort by title or year before outputting.
- Click on the browser's
back button to return to your previous page.
- To return to LOUIS
homepage, click here.
Telnet Access to Catalog
Online Databases
Other Libraries
