Navigating the PAC

How can Help help me?  How do I get to topics I am interested in reading?  When you click Online Help from the Start Up Page, the Help Table of Contents appears on the left and the Welcome topic appears on the right. Here is how to get around using the Table of Contents.

• In the Contents pane on the left, click the Book icon to the left of the subject title to view the list of related topics.

• Click any topic on the list you are interested in viewing to see the related Help topic.  The topic will display in the right pane.

• Clicking links within the topic will take you to a related topic.

Once you begin doing searches, or viewing other screens, clicking the Help button on the PAC toolbar will display the topic related to the area you are currently working.  For example, if you searched for a book, and you are viewing the result set, clicking Help will bring up a topic regarding information about the result set.

When you are in an area of the PAC that displays a pop-up dialog box, you will see a question mark icon in the upper right corner.  Clicking the question mark icon will display a topic related to the dialog.  Once your topic displays, you will see a Show Table of Contents link in the top left corner.  Clicking Show Table of Contents will open the Table of Contents for you to choose another topic, if preferred, or you can use the Search entry box in Help to type a keyword to search for the topic you want.

The Help has been laid out with YOU in mind.  The individual sections found in the Table of Contents are discussed below:

• Introduction - Topics provide background information about the PAC along with information about how to get around the PAC.

• PAC Toolbar - Topics are related to the toolbar buttons you see when you first start working with the PAC, and those toolbar buttons that will populate as you work with the different search options.

• Search Options - Topics are specifically related to the Search page and the different search options made available to you in your Library's PAC.

• I Want To - Topics are related to what you will need to do to change your account information, view items you have on hold, create a review list, understand a search procedure, among others.  Examples have been provided to help you understand procedures.

• For Librarians Only - Topics are related to areas most used by librarians in cataloging items found in your library.  The referenced areas are accessible to librarians only.

If you would like to print the Help topics at any time, click the right mouse button to display the menu and select Print.  If the Print feature is not available to you, use your browser to print your requested topic.  Consult your browser Help for more information.

If you would like a PDF copy of the Help, see PAC Help.  You will need to have the Adobe Reader installed to open and print the file. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, see the instructions below to download and install the free program from the Adobe Web site.

Downloading Adobe Reader

If needed, click the Get Adobe Reader button to navigate to the Adobe site to download the Adobe Reader installation file.   

 When the download starts, click Run or Save.  

• If you click Run, the installation will proceed.  

• If you click Save, you will need to Open the installation file when the download is complete.  Click the Open option to install the Adobe Reader.

After the reader is installed, open the downloaded PDF file.  Click File | Print to print a copy now, or click the Save a Copy icon to place a copy of the PDF file on your hard drive to print at a later time.

See PAC Toolbar Overview, Search Overview, and Account Summary Overview for additional information about different areas of your library's PAC.