Searching for an item and placing a hold in the MEC catalog

Unlike many catalogs, the search features of the MEC catalog are very forgiving.  You do not need an exact title, or subject heading, plurals or alternate verb endings.  If you enter dogs, the catalog results will also find items with dog. 
You can search for an exact phrase using double quotes. For example, if you search "Harry Potter", you will only find items with that exact phrase, not with the terms Harry or Potter alone.
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Here is the Basic Search screen:

You can select to search by Title, Keyword, Author, Subject, etc.  
You can also search for multiple formats including books, DVDs, CDs, large print, and much more.  Library defaults to CPL but you can also search all libraries in the Missouri Evergreen Consortium.  Place a hold for a material at any library and pick it up at CPL!

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Here is the Advanced Search screen:

 If you need to find something very specific, this is the search method for you!  Below the search terms are dozens of filters and sorting options.

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Here is an example of a basic search for a crochet book.  Even in the basic search screen, you have a lot of options!  If you enable highlighting, your search term will be highlighted in the results.  You can limit your search to available items.
In this particular search, simply selecting "show results from All libraries" bumped our results from 44 items to a whopping 1,319 items!

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Once you've located the item (or items) you are interested in, you will see a Place Hold button below available copies.  

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You will then get this screen, which gives you notification & pickup options for your request...

Click the Submit button and you're all set!  We will contact you once your item is ready to be picked up.