Primo Search Engine is a universal tool used for simultaneous search of all library resources, both in traditional and electronic formats, enabling quick access to the collections:

• available in the Library
• in electronic databases purchased by the Library
• in the open access model.

Simple search

Searching the collection is very easy. It is important to choose the right tab. Users interested in borrowing books should use the “Katalog Biblioteki” (Library Catalogue) tab. When searching for the literature for research purposes, it is better to use the tabs “Wszystkie zasoby” (All resources) or “Zasoby elektroniczne” (E-resources).
After selecting the right tab, enter your query in the search window, and the returned results can be easily refined. We encourage the users to log in already at the beginning. Some resources are displayed only to logged-in users. The search engine works like Google, it is not necessary to enter the author and the title in separate fields.

Advanced search

The Primo academic search engine enables the use of advanced operators that modify or completely change the search mode. Advanced operators include, e.g. logic operators: OR AND, NOT.  Without using logic operators between words and phrases, we are searching for all words, regardless of whether or not those words occur side by side. In order to search for the entire phrase, quotation marks should be used, e.g. “gas chromatography”. In order to exclude certain words or phrases, use the operator NOT and enter the words or the phrase to be excluded. Brackets are used to group terms in a query, for example: Kopernik (astronomy OR medicine). You can also use masking characters to search for different word variations:  ? – a question mark replaces a single character, e.g. typing cat? results in cat, cats, etc.; * – an asterisk replaces any number of characters, e.g. entering medic* will search for records containing the initial sequence of characters, e.g. medicine, medical, medically, etc.

Refining the results

The search results can be narrowed down according to different criteria/options: document type, subject, author, publication date, collection, language. It is also possible to use multiple options at the same time. To see all the available criteria, click More options (“Więcej opcji”).

View search results

The number and the types of tabs depend on the list of results. The search results include the list of items with information on the location and the possibility to borrow the book or to use it on-site. In addition, tabs may be displayed with information on editions, the number of citations or with references to recommended articles.

E-shelf

By using the “e-Półka”(e-Shelf) and “Zapytanie” (Request) options, a logged-in user can:

• save search queries and results that can be accessed later or sent by e-mail, exported to the selected bibliography manager or downloaded as a list in a text format;
• create folders with bibliographic references, arranged, for example by subjects;
• set up e-mail alerts to be notified when new items matching the previous query appear;
• add the items found to the e-Shelf by clicking the star icon next to the item on the search result list;
• add a separate note to each record.

To remove the item and all its copies from the e-Shelf folder, click the highlighted star icon next to the item in the search list. Additionally, under the e-Shelf tab, the user can create, copy, change the name, paste and delete folders, add and edit comments to the folders. Logged-in users can manage items on their e-Shelf: paste, cut, copy and remove, e-mail, print and save and add and edit their own comments.

Open access search

In order to reach the publications in the UWM University Library, find in the catalogue and note down its location, the symbol of the section, the title and the author. With this information, go to the unit listed in the Location field and search for the book on the bookshelf. The symbols of the sections are placed on tops of the bookcases and on the shelves. Within the sections, books are arranged in the alphabetical order by titles, except for the Didactic Collection, in which books should be searched for according to the author’s name. Once a book has been registered at the librarian’s desk, you can take the book to any place within the Library premises. When using books in a location other than the one marked in the catalogue, remember to return it to its proper location.