Skip to Main Content

SOLO - Search Oxford Libraries Online: Searching and ordering

Remember to sign in with your SSO

Access to some of the electronic resources that SOLO searches is restricted by the publishers to members of subscribing institutions. In order to prove that you are entitled to see these results, you will need to log in to SOLO with your Single Sign On.

SOLO will log you out after 30 minutes of inactivity. If you are using a public computer such as a quick search machine in a library remember to sign out when you have finished your search.

Searching and ordering

Please note: Electronic Legal Deposit is not the same as commercially available digital material - it is a special collection. All the Legal Deposit Libraries are bound by the same UK legislation that restricts access to this material.

For more information, please see our library guide: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/eld-explained

If you urgently require access to a book, please use our book recommendation form at https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/finding-resources/recommendations and the Bodleian Libraries will investigate purchasing an ebook or print copy for you.

Tips on browsing

How do I narrow search results to a particular library collection?

How do I sort/refine my search results? 

How can I export my search results?

How do I search by journal title?

How do I search for an article?

How do I use advanced search?

How do I search for material that isn't in the Latin alphabet?

How do I order a scan of an article or chapter of a book? 

How do I save a search and set up updates for new articles?

How do I order items from offsite storage?

What do I do if the book I want is on loan? 

How do I request an item from other libraries, beyond Oxford? 

What do the coloured circles/traffic lights, green, amber, red dotssignify?

 

Tips on browsing

Use the drop-down menu to the right of the search bar to select a search option - keep scrolling down for more options (see narrowing your search results down to a particular library)  'Search Everything' searches both 'Oxford Collections' and 'Articles'. To refine your results further see 'How do I sort/refine my search results' Vary keywords to get different results. 

Image showing that you can use the drop down menu on the right of search box to select a search option

Once you have submitted a search and retrieved some results, you can browse the hyperlinks in a bibliographic record for author and subject. If a book is a published as part of a series you can click on the link to see other titles in that series. 

To browse databases that are relevant to your subject area go to the Databases A-Z list. Select your subject from the dropdown menu and a list of relevant databases will be returned to for you to search.

Screenshot shows how to narrow your search in the database library guide

 How do I narrow search results to a particular library collection?

In the list of resources to the right of the search bar, either start typing the first letters of the library or collection you wish to search or use the scroll bar to navigate through the list. Click on the location to choose it.  

 Image showing how to limit your search results to a particular library. Use the drop down menu on the right and either start typing the library name or scroll through the list

You can also refine your search results by library by using the search filter 'Library' on the left as described in the section below. 

The three most recent searches with different locations will be remembered by the system for the duration of the session. They will display at the top of the list with a clock icon. 

Image shows The three most recent searches with different locations will be remembered by the system for the duration of the session. They will display at the top of the list with a clock icon. 

How do I sort/refine my search results?

If you find you are getting a lot of results try adding in some more search terms or sorting and refining your searches as below. 
On the left hand side of the results screen, use 'Sort by' to order your search results.

Image showing sort options in SOLO search results

Use the filters to refine your search. Navigate up and down the filters by using the side bar to the right of the list.

You can also exclude results with a particular value by clicking on the check box to the right of the entry in a facet list.

Image showing how to tick to the right of a resource type/s to exclude from results

How can I export my search results?

You can export results from the brief results page (shown below), from a full record display (once you have clicked through to a particular title), or from your 'Favourites'. To export from brief results, click on the three dots and select your chosen option. 

Image shows how to export records

How do I search by journal title? 

  • Search by journal title in 'Search Everything' or 'Oxford Collections'.

Image showing to search for a journal title select 'Search everything' or Oxford collections from the drop down menu on the right. There may be different versions of a journal. Click on 'See all versions' to view.

  • You may see up to three versions of the same journal. The print version, the purchased online version, which is always shown with a green circle and the Electronic Legal Deposit version, always shown with an red circle. 

Screenshot from SOLO showing three version of a journal, one print, one online subscription and one electronic legal deposit.

If a journal has many volumes/parts use the filter to bring up the volumes/parts you would like to see.

How do I search for an article?

To search for a specific article or to browse articles select the 'Articles' search option. Results will return both purchased online content and Electronic Legal Deposit versions. If we only hold a copy in print format you will need to search at journal title level in 'Search Everything' or 'Oxford Collections'.

a screenshot from SOLO showing an article search

How do I use advanced search?

Advanced Search has additional options to help make your search more specific. For instance, you can narrow down by title, publisher, year, and resource type (such as journals) amongst others.

How do I search for material that isn’t in the Latin alphabet’?

The Bodleian Libraries holds rich collections of material in languages that do not use the Latin alphabet. Examples are Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic.

You can search for this material in SOLO by putting keywords into search fields, as you might search for anything else – however you may well need to transcribe your keywords into the Latin alphabet. In many but not all cases non-Latin alphabets are transcribed into Latin using Library of Congress transcription. The best practice to search in both original script and transliteration. Your Subject Consultant can give you more detailed advice, however here are some tips on searching for material in specific alphabets:

Chinese: Many Chinese records weren’t transcribed into Latin. Search in Chinese first for accurate results (either in simplified or traditional form):

  • If using pin yin, please separate each character syllable, for example, 拼音 = pin yin, 生活 = sheng huo, 互联网 = hu lian wang, 武汉 = wu han
  • Join the character syllables together for geographic or personal names (for post 2020 publications), for example, 美国 = Meiguo, 新疆 = Xinjiang, 钱钟书 = Qian Zhongshu
  • Any transliteration into Latin follows the Library of Congress system.

Japanese: You can search in the Latin alphabet or in Japanese. If you search in the Latin alphabet, please follow the Library of Congress transcription (the Modified Hepburn romanization rules).

If you search using Japanese script, we would recommend going to SOLO advance search and using the language filter (choose 'Japanese' from the Language menu). This will help to filter out Chinese sources. 

Korean: You can search in the Latin Alphabet, according to the Library of Congress system. This is the McCune-Reischauer system. You can also search in Korean.

Middle Eastern and North African languages (e.g. Arabic, Persian): Search in the Latin alphabet, using the Library of Congress transliteration scheme for the individual languages. You can also search using original script, but bear in mind that only more recent records added to SOLO include the original script.

Hebrew: Search in the Latin alphabet (using the ALA/LC Hebraica Romanization), but you should search in Hebrew letters as well; the former will include the older records, the latter most of the newer ones.

Languages that use Cyrillic alphabets (e.g. Ukrainian or Kyrgyz): Most of these titles are transliterated into Latin using the Library of Congress transliteration. First try the Latin Alphabets in the Library of Congress transliteration, then try Cyrillic. You can also try the British Standard transliteration system, and as a last resort the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) system.

Caucasian languages (e.g. Armenian and Georgian): You can try Library of Congress transliteration into Latin, and the Armenian and Georgian (Mxedruli, Asomtavruli, and Nusxuri) alphabets.

South Asian Languages: We use the Library of Congress transliteration scheme for South Asian languages. Many records recently added to SOLO for South Asian language material also contain original script information, but only a small overall proportion of records currently have this, so please use transliterated Latin script for searching.]

ALA/LoC url: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html

Subject librarians url: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ask/subject-librarians

 

How do I order a scan of an article or chapter of a book? 

If scanning is an option for any type of item you will see the 'Scan & Deliver option as below. 

You will then be taken to the Scan & Deliver request form. it is clear on the form how much you can have scanned (not the whole book!) including advice that you can ask for the index or table of contents in addition to your final choice of chapter.as below. 

 

How do I save a search and set up updates for new articles?

  • Sign into your account. Then enter your search term and search in 'Articles'.

Image showing example of a an articles search in SOLO

  • From 'Sort & Filter Results' on the left, choose 'Articles'. You can also include results without full-text access by ticking the relevant box. Now click on the green 'Apply filters' button.

Image showing filter options in results screen

At the top of the page you can see the active filters you have chosen. Click on 'Save query'.

Image showing save query button in SOLO results screen

 

 

 

 

 

  • There are two ways to set up a notification. Once you have clicked 'Save query', a yellow banner will appear at the top of the screen. This will allow you to set up email notifications to a chosen email. 

Image showing how to set up notifications for search queries in SOLO by clicking 'Turn on notifications' in yellow banner

  • You can also set up a notification via your search history. From here you can chose to be notified by RSS feed if preferred. 

Image showing how to set up notifications for search queries by clicking on 'Search history'

  • Select 'Saved Searches'. From the icons on the right you can choose to set up an RSS feed or get monthly alerts via email. Please note, if you change your search terms you will need to set up a new saved search. You can delete notifications by clicking on the pin on the right. 

Image showing how to turn on notifications for search queries once in your 'Search history'

 

 

 

 

 

How do I order items from offsite storage?

You will need to sign in to your account in SOLO to order an item held in offsite storage. You have two options: 1) Request an electronic copy of an item to be sent to you via email using the Scan & Deliver service; 2) request the physical item to a reading room in a library. See the instructions below for both methods. 

Requesting a physical item to a reading room

  • Make sure you are signed into SOLO. Having conducted a search, click 'Find & Request' in the results page for the item you are interested in.

Image showing 'Find and request' button for item in SOLO

  • To request the item to a reading room, click 'Request'.  

Image showing to order an item click on the green request button. You will need to be signed into SOLO to see it.

  • When ordering an item to a reading room, you need to select the location and click 'Send request' to complete the process.

Image showing that when you order from closed stacks you are prompted to check that there not another copy on open shelves If you do want to order a copy you can choose a library to order your item to.

What do I do if the book I want is out on loan? 
If all copies available to you are out on loan, you are encouraged to place a request. This will ensure that a copy is reserved for you on its return. 

How do I request an item from other libraries, beyond Oxford? 

If we do not hold an item in Oxford it is easy to request an item from other libraries, beyond Oxford. Simply click on 'Need more?' as below and fill in the form. 

What do the coloured circles/traffic lights, green, amber, red dotssignify?

green dot The University's collections of ebooks, ejournals, online articles and databases available from our publisher subscriptions.  

 amber dotFull-text access to this item may be available but restrictions may apply. For example content on ORA.

 

red dot Full-text access is not available, or only under very restricted circumstances. For example, Electronic Legal Deposit content which can only be accessed on Bodleian Libraries PCs.