Why you didn't find something in the NHAIS ILL System

You've searched the NHAIS ILL System and what you're looking for didn't turn up? Sometimes that's because of things out of your control--no NHAIS libraries have what you're after or a server outage or Internet glitch kept all catalogs from being searched--but sometimes your search just fell short. Here are some reasons you might have missed out on finding something that's in the system:

-You gave up when your search term didn't show up in the autocomplete suggestion list. Those suggestions come exclusively from the indexes for the NHU-PAC, which is just one of 146 catalogs that the NHAIS ILL System is configured to search as of this writing.

-You didn't wait for the NHAIS ILL System to finish its search. Searching 146 catalogs doesn't happen in the blink of an eye and whenever it takes longer than 2 or 3 seconds to retrieve results the system will show you results from the NHU-PAC as soon as it can while it searches the other 145 catalogs.

-You didn't click the Add to Results Now button. In cases where it takes longer than 2 or 3 seconds to retrieve results, the NHAIS ILL System will continue to display the results from the NHU-PAC that it initially found and won't add other results until you click that button.

-You didn't search all catalogs. Click the "stack o' pancakes" icon to the left of the search box to check whether you're searching all available catalogs. If there's a minus sign next to Library Catalogs, you're missing out. Clicking the minus sign will change it to a check mark, which means all possible catalogs will be searched.

-You used Advanced Search. Many Z-targets are not configured for searches that combine different types of terms or include limits. Only the NHU-PAC reliably returns Advanced Search results; other catalogs are hit-or-miss.

-You did something other than a title, author, subject, or ISBN search. Different catalogs are indexed in different ways. We've found that all the catalogs in the NHAIS ILL System reliably return results for title, author, subject, and ISBN searches. When you try other searches, like general keyword or series title, some catalogs will return no results.

-You used the wrong type of search. Entering an ISBN for a title search isn't going to get you anywhere.

-You misspelled a word. The NHAIS ILL System has some leeway programmed in to account for some misspellings and to include "dogs" with your search for "dog" but it doesn't account for every variation. And remember those British spellings: Horatio Hornblower fans will get better results by looking for Flying Colours instead of Flying Colors.

Need help with searching? Contact the NHAIS Help Desk via e-mail or phone 603-271-2141.