EPA 220-F-92-006 Public Access to EPA's Online Library System (OLS) Books - Reports - Journals Air Quality Global Issues Health Effects Hazardous Waste Laboratory Methods Pollution Prevention Toxic Substances^ Water Pollution The Online Library System (OLS) is a computerized list of bibliographic citations compiled by the EPA library network. EPA provides this menu-driven, user-friendly system at no cost to support public access to environmental information. The only charges that will be incurred through use of the system are telecommunications charges. ~ OLS DATABASES ~ OLS consists of several related databases that can be used to locate books, reports, and articles on a variety of topics. The material in OLS is updated every two weeks, and can be searched by numerous access points, such as title, author, and keyword. National Catalog Hazardous Waste Clean Lakes EPA Region 1 Chemical Collection System Citations and summaries on environmentally related topics encompassing biology, chemistry, ecology, and other basic sciences; and EPA reports distributed through the National Technical Information Service. Citations and summaries for key materials on hazardous waste. Citations and summaries on topics relating to lake management, protection, and restoration. Selected items owned by the Region 1 Library. Citations for items relating to chemicals. For information about the Online Library System, please contact the nearest EPA Library. A list of the libraries is available on the system's HELP Screen. Dialing Into The System... Number For Dial-In Access: (919) 549-0720 Use these transmission & format settings: 300-9600 baud rate Half Duplex Even Parity 7 data bits per character One Stop Bit To Log-In: Dial into the system. At the first system prompt, type IBMPSI. At the second system prompt, type OLS. To Print: Printing is only available through your telecommunications software. Access through Internet... We encourage universities and institutions with Internet connections to access OLS using Internet links to EPA. EPA's Internet address is: EPAIBM.RTPNC.EPA.GOV At the first menu, select "Public Access." To Log-Out: Type Q or QUIT at the system prompt. At the second menu, select "OLS." USER SUPPORT: Call EPA's National Computer Center for technical system assistance (help with anything that happens before you type "OLS" at the system prompt) at 1-800-334-2405, or (919) 541-7862 (Outside the United States). Contact the EPA Public Information Center for the OLS User Guide and other system documentation at (202) 260-2080 NOTE: EPA can not be responsible for any telephone charges incurred by non-EPA users. It is the user's responsibility to release the telephone line connection. Information Access Branch, Information Management and Services Division Revised June 1992 Printed on Recycled Paper ------- Search Options The OLS search options correspond to fields in the various databases. To search for items with Information in a particular field, use the follow- ing two-letter options: AU Enter the author's whole name, or if the author's complete name is not known, users may search with the surname, first name, or Initials. Format is irrelevant; OLS searches all parts of the name separately. CL The format of the call number depends on the way it was originally entered; call num- bers very from one database to another within OLS. It is always wise to end the call number search with a wildcard character CS Enter a whole or partial name. OLS searches all corporate source fields. KY Enter a keyword or phrase which will be searched In all title, subject and abstract fields simultaneously. Use quotation marks if the phrase includes spaces. RN Enter the entire number, if known. Enter only the beginning letters of the report if searching for all reports from a specific agency. Spaces and punctuation may be omitted It is wise to use a wildcard character at the end of the search statement. TI Enter a word, phrase or complete title, without articles such as "a" or "the". Use quota- tion marks if the phrase includes spaces YR Enter a four-digit publication year. It is possible to use a wildcard character but the resulting search will be extremely slow. Searching Tips & Tricks ~ Use the wildcard character **" to truncate a word or phrase. Ex. Tl="env* prof* agency" or KY=*Hazard A Search numbers without leading zeros. Ex FIND OCLC=514174 A Search strings containing blanks MUST be enclosed in double quotation marks. Ex. "johnmuir" or "QH104.M85 1988" A You may search for year of publication In the format YYYY for a specific year, or YYVY:YYYY for a range of years. Ex. YR=1990, YR=1989:1991 A When searching numeric fields such as the year of publication, you can search for a set of values defined by the following logical operators: Greater Than (GT); Less Than (LT); Greater Than or Equal to (GE); Less Than or Equal to (LE); or Equal to (EQ). A You may "stack" some commands: Ex # 1. H TI H AU - will provide information on Title searching and then on author searching without returning to the Patron Menu in between. Ex. #2: Tl="sllent spring" - will begin the search with one step A When searching using call numbers, it is wise to end the search with a wildcard "".because not all call numbers include the date. Ex CL=QH104* A When searching report numbers, spaces and punctuation marks may be omitted from the search request. It is wise to use the wildcard ""as the last character in the request. Ex. RN«epa540* Frequently Used Commands C or CLEAR H or HELP M Q or QUIT to clear the space used to display up to 16 searches. to display a list of sets or items.also used to combine sets. to get more information about a particular option on one of the system menus. to return to Patron Menu, to exit the system. SP V or VIEW to set session parameters; limit search to local library holdings or view abstracts with citations, to go to the top of the Main Title List (search results). to look at a record. NOTE: Users must use the print and capture capabilities of their communications software (for example, CROSSTALK, Smartcom. Procom, etc.) to print or download Information from OLS. Consult your software manual for assistance ------- |