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R-Search User Guide

This is a guide for using the library's Primo interface, sometimes known as R-Search or the library catalog. This system allows you to search nearly all of our resources in print and online.

Narrowing Your Search

There are a series of search filters on the left side of your search results labelled "Tweak my results."  These filters will allow you to narrow your search.  This is particularly useful when a broad search returns hundreds or thousands of results.

There are two options in the Tweak my results menu that are worth mentioning before we discuss the filters:

  • Include results beyond Olin - unlike the other options we'll discuss on this page, this option will increase the number of your results when clicked.  When enabled, this option includes results that Olin does not have access to, but which can be requested via Interlibrary Loan.  This might be a useful search alteration if your research is very specialized and you are not finding many results.
     
  • Sort by - this is not a filter, but it arranges your search results by relevance (the default sorting method), date-newest, date-oldest, author, and title.

Using Filters

You can activate a filter by clicking on the text of the filter, or by clicking the checkbox on the left of the filter and clicking the Apply Filters button.  The latter option is useful if you'd like to apply multiple filters at once.  This is assuming you want filtering to be inclusive.  To exclude a filter, you can click the orange checkbox to the right of the filter.

A list of your Active Filters will appear at the top of the left filter menu, along with a few options:

  • A list of your current filters.  You can click the X on any filter to remove it.
     
  • Remember all filters - this makes the current filters persistent for your session.
     
  • Reset filters - this clears all current filters.

List of Filters

Availability

  • Available in the Library - these are mostly physical items within the library that can be viewed and/or checked out by patrons.
  • Full Text Online - these are electronic items that can be viewed in full by clicking their links in R-Search
  • Peer-reviewed journals - these are results from scholarly journals
  • Open access - these results are freely available in the internet by third parties that are usually not affiliated with or curated by the library.

Resource Type - there are many of these, including: book, article, maps, book chapters, videos, and several others.

Creation Date - the date that an item was created.  This filter can be scoped by years, such as 1980-2000.  If you put the same year in the from and to fields, it will search just that one year.

Subject - these are library subject headings that were discussed earlier in this guide.  There are many possible subjects depending on your search.

Journal Title - you can filter results that only come from one or more specific journals.

Collection - many electronic items are curated by Olin library faculty and staff behind the scenes, and this filter shows what content belongs in what database.  Useful for patrons if you want to only search products from a particular database (such as JSTOR) or vendor (such as ProQuest).

Language - if results are available in multiple languages, you can filter by language here.

Author/Creator - allows you to filter by particular authors or creators.

Library - In addition to print and online content (filtered as Olin Library in this filter), R-Search indexes several Olin Archives products:

  • Rollins Digital Repository - this shows results from the Archives digital repository, including images and scanned documents.
  • Rollins Scholarship Online - this filter includes results from the Archives institutional repository, including thesis papers, meeting minutes, and faculty publications.

Locations - for physical items available in the library, this tells you what floor and area the item can be found.  Many items include a map showing their location.

 

Personalized Results

There is an additional layer of filtering available that personalizes your results by discipline.  If you click the personalize toggle at the top of the search results, R-Search will allow you to choose between 1-5 disciplines to tailor your search results.  These disciplines are chosen by the system's vendor, so they are not customizable by Olin staff and do not necessarily map to Rollins programs or majors, but they still might be useful in narrowing a large search.  Personalization will not be saved unless you are signed into R-Search.

Sample Searches