PONI for Perkins
PONI—Public ON-line Information—is the name of SMU’s online catalog
system, which includes a gateway to online resources, a link to the Interlibrary
Loan order form, access to a patron’s personal account information, etc. PONI
combines the catalogs of all of the SMU Libraries, including Bridwell. The
address for accessing PONI via the web is:
https://poni.smu.edu
Basic Search. Basic searches are ideal when you
know exactly which item you want, for example Experiencing Buddhism by
Ruben Habito.
Step 1 -"Search for:" Enter keywords in the text box.
Step 2 - "Search in:" Select the type of search to perform from the list.
Title. Remember to omit initial articles, a, an, the, der, das, el, la.
Example: Works of Wesley, rather than The
Works of Wesley
Journal Title. Please note that PONI will not search for the titles of
articles within journals. However, many databases, like ATLA Religion Database
or Academic Search Premiere, will. See “Online Resources” below for more
information.
Author. Enter last name, then first name.
Subject Heading. Use if the Library of Congress assigned Subject Heading
is known. Otherwise start with a keyword search, then explore by using subject
heading links present in the item records that best fit your needs.
Example: Bible. N.T. Ephesians--Commentary
Call Number. Punctuation and spacing matter.
Example: BS 2695.53 .B47 2003
Keyword. This is a new relevancy-ranking search, which is still in the
process of no longer requires the use of boolean operators—and, or, not.
Use quotes to search phrases, such as “polyglot bible”
Use ? with partial words to find variant endings: Eccles? finds Ecclesiastes,
ecclesiastical, Ecclesiacticus, ecclesiology
Step 3 - Quick Limits (optional). Choose a quick limit: date, language,
material format, library, etc. before entering search terms. Limits apply to
Title and Keyword searches only.
Advanced Search
Step 1 – “Search for:” Enter the keywords in one or more of the
boxes, just as you would for a Google search.
Step 2 – “all of these” Click the drop-down arrow to choose how to treat
the keywords:
all of these - Will find records containing all of the keywords
any of these - Will find records containing any of the keywords
as a phrase - Will find records containing the keywords in the exact order they
appear in the search box.
Step 3 – “Search in:” Click the drop-down arrow next to the box to choose a
field to search. Leave as “keyword
anywhere” for broadest results.
Step 4 - If entering search terms in more than one “Search for:” box, select
Boolean operators using the radio buttons.
AND narrows the search by combining terms: Methodius AND Cyril
OR broadens the search by allowing either term to be found: John Wesley OR
Charles Wesley
NOT ensures that certain terms will not appear in the search results: ceremonies
NOT feet washing
Step 5 – Select More Search Limits (optional): Set before building a search.
Click this button to restrict results to a particular language, date range,
library location, format, or place of publication.
SMU Online Resources. SMU Online Resources list the Web-based resources which are provided by SMU
Libraries. Online Resources are divided into 2 broad categories:
1. Indexes, Databases, Reference Resources, and more
2. Electronic Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
All of SMU’s Online Resources can be accessed from anywhere on-campus, and most
of them can be accessed from off-campus by students, faculty, and staff, using
their SMU ID number or barcode (see My Library Account, below).
Choosing an Online Resource
When searching for information, first decide what kind of information is needed.
Online Resources may be browsed by title or subject.
Browse by Title to search alphabetical lists of indexes, databases,
reference resources, electronic journals, magazines and newspapers click on the
letter of the resource.
Browse by Subject to search for articles in a general subject area. Then
choose a database in that subject to search many publications across that
subject area.
Specific databases and electronic journals can also be accessed by doing a basic
title or journal title search in PONI. For example, “ATLA Religion Database” or
“Journal of Biblical Literature.”
For a summary of some of the best online resources in Religion and Theology,
see "Top 10 Most Useful Databases for Religion & Theology."
Course Reserve Search
Choose one or more drop down menus: Instructor, Department, Course, or Section.
Then click search. The results list will give the call numbers, location and
status for items on reserve and link to electronic documents when available. The
Circulation staff will need the call number in order to retrieve the material
for you.
Print, Save, or Email Records
At the bottom of each item’s record in Poni is a box with various options called
“Reformat to Print or Save”. Choose a Format Type: Full Record, Brief Record,
EndNote citation, then, click on the Print/Save button in the Reformat to Print
or Save box at the bottom of the screen. This will reformat and display all of
the records. Use the Web Browser commands (File - Print or File - Save) to print
or save.
To e-mail the record, type an e-mail address in the box and click the Email
button. To save records in My Bookbag, select the “My Bookbag” button and log
into your library account.
My Library Account
Select ‘My Library Account’ then enter either your SMU id number (8 digits) and
password, or the barcode number (14 digits) from your SMU id card and your last
name. Click Login.
In My Library Account, the following actions can be performed:
• Review your personal contact information as it has been derived
from your Access account
• View a list of books checked out
• View a list of outstanding hold or recall requests
• View fines or fees owed
• View the contents of My Bookbag
last updated January 2008
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