In a recent release of SUNCAT we reintroduced browse functionality which had been missing since we moved over to the new interface last year.
Although searching is probably the more common way of finding a known item (especially since the arrival of Google), browsing can prove useful if you aren’t quite sure what it is you are looking for. It can lead to serendipitous and new discoveries and help you find out about the unknown unknowns!
You can start browsing by clicking on the “Browse� link underneath the search boxes on the service homepage/basic search page. There is also a link in the navigation section on the top left hand side of all the remaining service pages.
Click on the “Browse” link on the SUNCAT homepage
To start browsing just enter a term(s) or the first few letters of a term into the browse box and choose what you would like to browse by, e.g. by title, by subject, by publisher etc. and click on the “Browse� button.
Enter your term(s) and select an index
You can browse by:
- Title
- Subject Headings
- Subject Headings – LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings)
- Subject Headings – MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)
- Author (Organisation or Conference)
- Publisher
- Place of Publication
- Series
A list of results will open up beneath the browse box at the appropriate point in the alphabetical listing for the index you have chosen. So the top result might be the exact term(s) you entered, if it exists in SUNCAT, but if not, it will be the closest term after this alphabetically. For example, if you choose to browse by title and enter the term “beards� the results will start with “Beardsley news�. From here you can either use the “Forward� or “Back� navigation buttons to browse back or forward in the alphabetical listing.
The number of serial records associated with each result is displayed in the right hand column. Click on a result to view these records.
Click on a result to view the associated records
There are also two additional numerical indexes available ISBN and ISSN (the international unique identifiers for monographs and serials).
If you have any queries about the browse feature or SUNCAT in general please contact the EDINA Helpdesk at edina@ed.ac.uk.