Researcher Workstation
From COMPanion
Welcome to the Alexandria Researcher Workstation!
The Alexandria Researcher is an exquisitely robust, visually engaging, and genuinely intuitive library search interface that appeals to both children and grown-ups alike. The Researcher search interface is available for Alexandria Data Stations, Librarian Workstations, and Web Librarians.
Generally, the Researcher Workstation is opened using your Data Station's default web browser when selecting Researcher from the main Alexandria Show drop-down menu. Otherwise, patrons can use the Researcher to search library collections around the world wide web by entering the IP address of your main Alexandria Data Station in the “URL” or “address” field of their favorite internet browser.
Both patrons and operators are able to search local collections or authorized remote locations over a wide area network; access to wide area network locations requires an Alexandria WAN license and must be configured in your Data Station's System Preferences.
Some features of the Researcher include:
- A single word performs an immediate search; on-the-fly toggling between simple and advanced searches.
- Clickable icons emphasize your Most Popular (highly circulated titles), What's New? (recent additions), and Award Winners (books of prestigious accolade).
- Multiple views for search results; virtually browse your shelves, cover by cover, without leaving the comfort of your seat; smoothly scroll through the very first call number to the last.
- Using pre- and post-Filters, you can refine your search results by limiting your fields to “author”, “series”, “medium”, and more.
- Comprehensive title details provide ease of access to important information including, but not limited to Lexiles, Study Programs, Point Counts, Interest and Reading Levels information, digital media, operator-approved websites, eBooks, and other uncommon resources.
- Save titles for later by dragging and dropping them into default or patron-created Saved Lists that allow patrons a virtual place to keep lists of items they'd like to check out in the near or distant future.
- A supervised review system that allows patrons to publish and share their opinions while allowing library administrators to oversee and manage content.
How Do I Open the Alexandria Researcher?
You can activate Alexandria's Researcher in a multitude of ways.
- Select Researcher from Alexandria's main Show menu.
- Double-click on the “To access the Researcher” link near the top of Alexandria's Transaction Log.
- In the Web Settings subtab of the Site Information system preferences, click on the blue To access Web Researcher link.
- In the supported browser of your choice, provide the web address of your Researcher in the address bar and press <Enter>.
- In a Central Union environment, operators can create bookmarks (or links) to search specific schools without having to rely on cookies set at individual Researcher Workstations; this is done by including the Institution (otherwise known as Site) ID code in the web address. For example, if the COMPanion Middle School has an Institution (i.e. School for patrons and Copy Site for items) site code of CompMS, you would enter the URL as: http://Researcher IP Address:port/#site=CompMS. Be sure to mind the case-sensitivity of the Institution site code.
Related Researcher Topics
