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Princeton University Biology Library
RLIN Union Catalog
What it is

The RLIN Union catalog contains cataloging information about more than 22 million books, periodicals, recordings, scores, archival collections, and other kinds of material held in major research institutions, including Princeton. Many of the records go back before 1980, though Princeton's part doesn't.

This is the place to look for library material which you don't find in the OnlineCatalog (Information) , (Connection) or the Electronic card catalog (Information) , (Connection). Items found here which Princeton does not own are available through Interlibrary Loan /Document Delivery

How to Access

The RLIN union catalog connects through a Telnet session.
To connect right now, click here and follow the following instructions:
    The Telnet program will start and open a separate window.

    From the menu that will appear choose: general, then RLIN
    After you finish, end the database session with Control-D; then close or quit the Telnet session.
IN THE LIBRARY, use the library gateway terminals; open group general, then pick RLIN OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY, Preferably, use the Regional / Worldwide (RLIN, WorldCat).

Searching: Basic Instructions

  • TO LOOK FOR TITLES
    using the titles of works, (series titles included):
    use browse ti To SCAN a list of exact titles (do not include initial articles)
    use find ti To match EXACT titles from the start excluding initial articles
    Use ? to truncate within or at end e.g. find ti history of science?india
    use find tiw To match distinctive WORDS from titles
      --- You can include numbers in titles and series titles find tiw nato 234
      --- Truncate with ? to find variant forms find tiw laser hologr?
      --- Include punctuation except ( )
  • TO LOOK FOR NAMES
    To search using the names of persons, organizations, or conferences responsible for a work as author, editor, composer, etc.:
    use browse au to scan a list of names browse au darwin, c
    use find au To match name in exact order find au darwin, charles ?
    use find auw To match key words in any order find auw charles darwin
  • TO LOOK FOR CONFERENCES AND ORGANIZATIONS
    To match EXACT forms of organization or conference names:
      Use find au with name find au sierra club
      --- Omit initial articles and commas
    To search by WORDS from organization or conference names:
      use find auw with distinctive words e.g.: find auw cold spring banbury
      --- Avoid common words: "society," etc.
      --- Truncate to find variants find auw ieee laser?
    To search by organization and conference names if you can't use distinctive words or don't know the exact form:
      use browse au with different forms:
      e.g.: browse au california. university or browse au university of california
Seeing results
  • TO DISPLAY RESULTS
    Display formats:
      records Display records in briefest one-line format dis 1-60 rec
      long Display records in detailed format dis 1 long
      short Display records in brief format dis 4,5,7 short <
      loc List libraries that hold the item dis 7 loc
      after displaying locations, type a location number to see the detailed information for that location.
  • TO QUIT
    When done, type Control-D
    If you are finished searching, then close the telnet session.
    Either close only this particular session
    or quit telnet altogether.
Searching: Advanced Methods

FIND vs. BROWSE
When searching you can either browse or find
Browse scans lists of author, title, or subject headings.
    Use when you know an author's last name, or how a title or subject heading begins.
Find searches by keyword or heading--either phrases or individual words.
Use when you know key words from a title, author, or subject heading.
  • USING BROWSE
    Typing just browse , then pressing enter shows a list of indexes.
      Typing an index name shows the rules for entering your search.
    Useful indexes for browse include:
      AU (Authors' name,), e.g.: browse au dobzhansky, t
      --- Last name first. Include commas and hyphens
      --- For organizations as authors: omit commas, hyphens, and initial articles, e.g.: browse au cold spring
      TI (Titles) e.g.: browse ti molecular biology of the c (omit initial articles)
      SU (Subjects) as exact headings;
      e.g.: browse su genetics--hist include two dashes as shown
    The Browse display will give an alphabetical list of headings.
      Select by typing their numbers
    You don't have to enter the complete phrase with browse , but don't use a truncation symbol.
  • USING FIND
    Type find to start a search when you know only keywords from a heading.
    (When you know how a heading begins, use browse )
    Typing just find, then pressing Enter, shows a list of indexes.
    Typing an index name shows the rules for entering your search.
    Find can use either EXACT (phrase) indexes to retrieve a complete phrase,
    or WORD indexes to retrieve individual words
    Generally useful indexes for find include:
      EXACT INDEXES(phrase indexes)
      AU (Authors-person/organization) find au dobzhansky, t?
      SU (Subject heading phrases) find su genetics- -hist?
      TI (Title phrases) find ti molecular biology of the c?
      ---Include punctuation except ( and ) ; find ti ps/2?
      Word Indexes
      AUW (Author words -person/organization) find auw xerox or find auw darwin
      SUW (Subject heading words) find suw ecology vermont
      TIW (Title words ) find tiw biology cell molec?
      --- Include punctuation except ( and ) ; find tiw ps/2?
    Use ? to truncate with find

    To combine indexes, use and , or , not ;
      e.g.: find auw crick and tiw helix
  • TO LOOK FOR STANDARD NUMBERS AND CODES
      use find co as follows:
      for LCCN fin co 91-117815
      for ISBN find co 1-87437-7006
      for ISSN find co 0003-4169
      for CODEN find co bygsar
      for GPO number (US gov. document no.) fin co he 20.3002:P?
      Report number find co nsf 93-5? (handle puncutauation and spaces like for GPO numbers, above)
    Use complete number or truncate with ?

    Keep most punctuation (but omit: question marks, ampersands, quotes, and parentheses)
      Keep spaces (but omit spaces that immediately precede or follow a period or colon); change / to a space
  • TO LIMIT
    The limit command lets you limit your current result by:
      mat Material type bks , or ser etc.
      lan Language of publication eng , or fre etc.
      dat Date of publication e.g. 1993 or after 1990 or 1950-1990 etc.
      loc Location owning an item e.g.: njpg or not njpg etc.
    To define a particular kind of limit, type limit and the limit kind, for example:
    To start limiting by material lim mat ; the available choices will then appear

    You can also give a complete limit command that includes the kind of limit and other relevant options, for example:
    to limit to books: lim mat bks or serials: limit mat ser
      to limit to English: lim lan eng
      --- or all languages except English: lim lan not eng
    Use set limit to narrow all subsequent searches by one or more limits
      e.g. set limit mat ser
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revised April 20, 1996.
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