Help

Searching Prospector

Prospector now includes over nine million unique titles including books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks and electronic resources. The new interface supports an easy-to-use single search box in which you can type titles, authors, subjects or just keywords that represent your area of interest. To order an item just select “Request It” on the screen and follow the onscreen prompts. You can narrow your search by selecting a facet on the left of the screen to filter your search by format (e.g. DVD), language, date or other elements.

Digital or electronic resources owned by libraries in the region are also shown in Prospector. In some cases anyone may access them (e.g. federal or state documents, public domain items) but in other cases, you must be a member of that institution or library to gain access. If you are not sure just follow an online link. If you get access to the resource you are fine. If not, in some cases, you may be able to get a borrowers card from that library to gain access.

If you prefer the original Prospector classic interface it is still available at http://prospector.coalliance.org/search~S0


Requesting Items Through Prospector
While you are viewing the results of your search or the full record describing a book or other item, you will see a link labeled “Request it.” Clicking this link will take you through a series of forms, asking you which library you are affiliated with, your name and library card number, and possibly, which branch of your library you want the item delivered to.

In most cases, you cannot request an item through Prospector if your local library has a copy that is still available on the shelf.

You cannot request an item through Prospector if your library card is blocked at your local library, so be sure that you are in good standing with your local library.

Once the request has been completed, Prospector will tell the library that has the book to send it to your library. Once it arrives at your library, you can pick it up there. Most of the participating libraries will notify you by mail, email, or phone that the book has arrived. This part of the process usually takes 2 to 4 days, but can take longer in some situations.

There are some exceptions, but most items in Prospector are loaned to you with the following policies:

  • 21 day loan period (1 week for most DVDs, CDs, and videotapes)
  • 1 renewal (No renewal for most DVDs, CDs, and videotapes)
  • Up to 40 requests/check-outs per person
  • Up to $100 will be charged for lost books ($75 lost book fee plus $25 processing charge) but each library sets its own policcy
  • Overdue fines will be the same as at your local library (the library whose card you used to check-out the item)
  • If all copies of materials are checked-out a hold may be placed although books may not be recalled

Cancelling a Request
You can cancel a request that you have placed through Prospector by using the catalog at your local library. While at the website of your local library catalog, view your patron record, or account information, and it will display a list of the items you have requested through Prospector.

Using this list, you can view the status of your requests, or you can cancel one or all of your requests.

“Access Denied” Message
The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries installed a new more secure firewall in September 2010. As a result of the greater security some users have reported an “access denied” message when trying to get to Prospector.

If a user tries to come to Prospector and has some spyware, tracking or virus software indicated by the incoming http headers, our firewall will block that user. Many times users don’t realize they have been infected (or it may even be a purposefully installed item). To help mitigate the problem the obscure and arcane “access denied” message has been changed to a more helpful error message including instructions on what to do along with an email address if the user would like to contact us.

It should be noted, that many times this problem can be fixed by just switching browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari) on the same computer (or the user can remove the problematic software and use the same browser).

Searching Classic Prospector
Author

Author and Title

Title

Journal Title

Subject Searches

Number Searches

 There are many ways to search the library’s catalog. Each type of search has its own search form on its own page. You can get to each of these pages by clicking on the corresponding tabs on the home page. The links on the left will also take you to the page for the selected search type. There, you will find tips on searching for specific kinds of items.

For example, the help on the Author search form will tell you that you should enter author’s names with the last name first, followed by a comma and a space, then the author’s first name. For example, “Camus, Albert.”

When using the Subject search or Number search you will have to select the type of subject or the type of number you want to search for. For example, if you want to search for a Library of Congress Call Number, you will need to click that radio button before entering your search term and clicking the “Search Now” button.

For more details on any of the search types, click the appropriate link in the left column.

RSS Syndication