MetaLib - gateway to electronic resources

MetaLib is a gateway to a range of electronic resources relevant to users of UCL Library Services. It can be used to identify resources relevant to a particular area of research or study, and it can be used to "cross-search" groups of these resources. This can save you valuable time in the research process, especially if you need a quick overview of a topic.

• Click to Login to MetaLib
• Go to the MetaLib User Guide
• View answers to Frequently Asked Questions
• Go to the MetaLib link generator

Resources accessible through MetaLib include:

• Abstracting and indexing databases
• Electronic journals
• Library catalogues
• Image databases
• Guides to internet resources
• Reference resources such as encyclopaedia and dictionaries

MetaLib also offers personalisation features. You can save search results, save searches, set up alerts and create groups of "favourite" resources for cross-searching.

In order to get the most out of MetaLib, including the personalisation features, you should log in using your UCL userid and password. All UCL students and staff, including staff who hold honorary appointments ratified by UCL Human Resources Department, are eligible to register for a UCL userid. Please see this Information Systems webpage for information on the registration process.

Logging in to MetaLib gives you full access to all the resources to which UCL subscribes, whether your computer is connected to the UCL network or whether you are accessing MetaLib across the wider internet. You should not need to enter any further passwords. As a logged-in user, you can also make use of the personalisation features of MetaLib, such as saving your searches and search results, and creating lists of favourite resources.

If you choose to access MetaLib as a guest user, without logging in, your access to the resources in MetaLib is limited as follows. If you are using a computer on the UCL network, you will have access to most resources (those which provide IP-based access), but may have to enter your UCL userid and password for some resources, when prompted. If you are using a computer which is not on the UCL network, guest access is restricted to freely-available public resources. Resources which you cannot use are marked with the symbol . Note that you can choose to log in to MetaLib at any time, if you have entered as a guest, by selecting "Log in" from the top menu.

If you encounter any problems using MetaLib, please use the MetaLib Feedback form.

Online help is provided within MetaLib - select Help from the top menu on any screen in MetaLib.

There is also an introductory User guide which is also available in printed format from any Library Services site. Or you can ask for help at any staffed service point at the Library Services sites.

Q: Is MetaLib the answer to everything?
A: No! MetaLib is good for gaining an overview of a topic or conducting an introductory search. In many other cases, you should continue to use the "native" interface of a database, if MetaLib's searching is not sophisticated enough for your purpose. The balance of the usage of MetaLib and databases' own interfaces varies depending on your subject area.

Q: How do I find electronic journals?
A: Starting in 2008, electronic journals are now listed in MetaLib, in the Find e-Journal module. You can search for journals by title, subject or publisher. For more information on e-journals available at UCL, visit the e-journals webpages. Within MetaLib, you can also search collections of e-journals (eg ScienceDirect, JSTOR), and you can also link to articles in fulltext journals, via SFX.

Q: What can I access if I don't log in?
A: On-site users can search everything, but if they follow links to native interfaces, these may present the UCL electronic resource login box (where necessary). Off-site users can only search "free" resources, and if they follow links to native interfaces, these will present the usual off-site login boxes.

Q: How can I get rid of the pop-up message boxes I see when I try to log in?
A: On some computers (particularly UCL WTS), if you use the Internet Explorer browser, you will see some pop-up security messages when you try to log in to MetaLib. To ensure that these boxes don't display again, tick the box next to "In the future, do not show this warning" and then answer "Yes" to any boxes which ask you if you want to show both secure and non-secure items.

Q: Why can't I search this resource/see the results of searching this resource?
A: Technical restrictions mean some resources are only available as Search+Link (link out to see results), and some cannot be searched within MetaLib at all (link out to search).

Q: How can I search resources from different subject categories together? [eg French and German]
A: Create your own set of resources in My Resources.

Q: Why can't I find this resource, which I am sure must be in MetaLib?
A: Try using the Keyword search in Find Resource. Its title search enables you to find a resource which may have been entered under a variation of the name you have tried searching for.

Q: Why doesn't this Boolean/phrase/multi-field search work?
A: Check the information button for the resource to see search hints (including restrictions) for that resource.

Q: Why are only 90 out of 1100 [or whatever] hits returned at once?
A: The combined list takes time to generate, and would be too slow to combine the whole of several result lists at once. e "combine more" to add 10 more from each resource at a time; or view the whole list for an individual resource.

Q: Are the first results returned in the combined list the most relevant from all resources?
A: Not necessarily. MetaLib returns the first 30 as each resource lists them, which may be by relevance in some cases, but alternatively by publication date or alphabetically in others. The only way to rank the combined results list is to combine more until you have the whole list, sorting by MetaLib's ranking option.

Q: How can I see which journal this article is from?
A: Switch to "Brief view" on the results screen (instead of "Table view"). The citation is then shown for each hit.

Q: Can I export my results into Reference Manager?
A: Yes. Use the normal procedure for saving results and select "Citation manager" format. You can then choose a library into which you want to export the records, and this will automatically open Reference Manager and do the export.

Q: Where has the SFX button gone?
A: Some resources don't provide data relevant to SFX links. On these resources, the SFX button is suppressed. Often, these resources provide their own links to fulltext instead, in the "External" field of the record in MetaLib.

Q: What's happened? I've lost my search by using the Back button!
A: Don't use the web browser Back and Forward buttons at all with MetaLib - use the built-in navigation links in the top menus and elsewhere. There is always a way to avoid using the browser buttons.

Q: Why have I been logged out of MetaLib automatically?
A: If you do not submit a search or move to another screen in MetaLib for 15 minutes, you will automatically be logged out. This is a security measure, to guard against others being able to use your MetaLib account if you accidentally leave a MetaLib session unattended on your computer. You will be taken to guest access and can log back in at any point.

Q: Can I create a link to MetaLib from my webpage?
A: Yes, you can link into MetaLib at the subject level - either to a list of information resources, or to a subject-based cross-searchable list - using the MetaLib link generator. Instructions are available here (Word doc).

Last modified 13 August 2008