MIDCAT, the Library catalog, is currently experiencing some problems with searches limited to certain media formats (“scopes” in library lingo).   This problem is affecting searches limited to formats selected from the drop-down menu as well those selected using the tabs across the top of the search screen:

Specifically:  searches using AUTHOR, TITLE, etc., indexes in combination with the format limits are NOT working properly (we definitely have CDs with “Beethoven” as the author!):

The easiest way to work around this might be to simply use a KEYWORD search.  KEYWORD searches in combination with the limits (scopes) seem to be unaffected:

If a KEYWORD search returns too many results, or is undesirable for some other reason, another way to work around this issue is as follows:

1) Perform a search of any kind WITHOUT using one of the media limits.  This search can be a search of a specific index (e.g., AUTHOR, TITLE, SUBJECT, etc.) or a KEYWORD search.

2) Once you receive your results, click either the “Modify Search” button (if you searched by KEYWORD) or the “Limit/Sort Search” button (if you searched using an AUTHOR, TITLE, etc. index)

3) From the next screen, you can choose a format limit and click “Submit”

We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing, and hope to have this corrected soon.

Terry Simpkins
Director, Discovery & Access Services
Davis Family Library 135A
Middlebury College
110 Storrs Ave.
Middlebury, VT 05753
802-443-5045
tsimpkin@middlebury.edu