Using the search features
Learn about the various CataList search features and how to use them.
Watch our videos about these topics
CataList tutorial: Search for titles and catalogues
CataList tutorial: Create and edit saved searches
Quick Search options
click on any image to view at full size
The default selection of the Quick Search is to search for products in all formats, but you can also search for catalogues or return matches that are specifically print or digital products. Click the dropdown list to choose the type of Quick Search you want to run.
The ISBN List search below the search bar can return matches for a list of up to 1000 ISBNs.
Search for books
By default, the Quick Search box is set to look for matches for your search terms across title, subtitle, contributor, series, subjects, publisher, and imprint. The search returns matches showing the newest titles first. You can change the sort order of the titles, set a number of titles to display per page, and when you are logged in you can Export the title list to Excel or add the list of titles to a catalogue.
CataList no longer limits results to only forthcoming and available titles, so you can now easily see if titles have been postponed or cancelled. If you want to limit the result set, you can use the refine tools to filter the list of results to only the titles you are interested in. See the Refine results section for more information.
Search for catalogues
When Catalogues is selected as the search type, CataList will look for matches for your search terms in catalogue name, company and imprint names. If you keep track of your catalogues by ID number, you can also search for catalogues by their ID number.
Search for an ISBN List
The ISBN List search returns the titles that match the ISBNs that you enter into the box.
To search using a list of ISBNs
In the navigation bar, click ISBN List. A search box displays.
Enter up to 1000 ISBNs.
Click Submit to run your search.
CataList returns the matching items in the system. By default, book matches are presented in the same sequence as your original list. ISBNs with no match in CataList will not display.
You can sort and filter these list results as desired, and when you are logged into the system you can also export them from the system or add them to a catalogue.
Advanced Search
The Advanced Search form is a versatile tool that allows you to customize and filter your search results in a dynamic way. Use it to find exactly the list of titles you need, frontlist or backlist. There are several parts to the form and different ways to set search parameters. Each section is covered in more detail below.
click on any image to view at full size
You can access the Advanced Search at any time using the Advanced Search link below the Quick Search box. Clicking the link brings you to the Search page, with the Advanced Search form open.
If you run a Quick Search for book results, you'll also see the Advanced Search bar at the top of the search result page. You can click the bar to expand the Advanced Search form at any time on that page.
Run an advanced search
The basics of running an advanced search:
Set up the parameters of your search and click Run Search.
Once your search returns, you can reopen the form to refine the parameters of your search. Alternately, use the refine boxes in the left sidebar to refine your result set.
Click Clear All to clear all parameters from the form and start a fresh search.
Search in specific data fields
At the top left of the form, use the text boxes to find text matches according to your selected data field. The search results rely on publishers providing names and series data consistently across titles.
Searchable fields | Description |
|---|---|
Title | This option searches for matches across title and subtitle fields. |
Contributor | This option searches for matches on all contributor roles, such as author, illustrator, editor, photographer, etc. |
Series | Search for series matches for all of the books in a particular series, for example, “The Massey Lectures” or “Dog Man.” |
All Subjects | If you know the subject you are looking for, such as Cooking, you can type it in here, or if you prefer to search specific subject codes, use the ‘Search specific subjects’ function. You can also search for Dewey decimals in the All Subjects field. |
Publisher | If you know the publisher of a book, i.e. Dundurn, Hachette, Penguin Random House, Groundwood, etc., you can type it into this field to see results that include publications by that publisher. |
Imprint | You can search for a specific imprint’s title list using the Imprint option. For example, you could search for all titles in Goose Lane’s icehouse poetry titles by searching for “icehouse poetry.” |
Canadian distributor | The Canadian distributor option allows you to locate sets of titles that can be ordered together from a single source. |
Publisher keywords | Many publishers now add keywords to their metadata to help surface results that may not be otherwise easily found using the title, subject or other common metadata fields. Try searching for keywords like “ownvoices,” “indigenous,” “BIPOC,” or topical or seasonal themes such as “pandemic” or “Halloween.” |
When you’ve set your parameters, click Run Search at the bottom left of the form.
If you are not seeing the matches you expect, try reducing your search terms to the main keywords. For example, try searching “Hunger Games” in series rather than “The Hunger Games” to get the largest set of matches.
If you know the exact phrase of what you are searching for, place quotation marks (“ “) around the phrase to return exact matches.