Copac Quick guide

Copac gives free access to the merged catalogues of many major UK and Irish University Libraries plus the British Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, & the National Art Library at the V&A

Page contents:

Starting a search session

You will see the 'Quick search' form. The tabs above the form give you the 'Main search' and 'Map search' forms.

Carrying out a search

Search forms:

  • Quick Search: a few fields for a quick Copac search.
  • Main Search: a wider range of fields, including Material type, eg. limit a search to Periodicals only.
  • Map Search: limits the search to maps, plans etc. Not all map records are correctly identified, so if a search fails try using the Main search form.

To search:

  • Enter your search terms into a search form,
  • Select the 'Search' button.

Do not enter text into every field of the Main and Map search forms as your search will almost certainly fail.

All Copac options, including Help, are listed in the menu on the right side of each screen.

Displaying results

Brief records for browsing:

If your search is successful a set of Brief records is displayed, 25 to a page. Use the 'Next', 'Previous', and 'Page' links to browse other pages.

  • Select the document title to see the Full Record.

Full record display:

The Full record gives all the available document details. Browse using the 'Next' and 'Previous' links.

  • Select a Holding library name at the end of a Full record to see the Local Holdings display.

Local Holdings display:

The Local Holdings display gives the branch library holding the item, local shelfmark, notes etc. For most libraries you can see if the item is currently on-loan.

Marking & Downloading records

Marking records lets you create a Marked list of records chosen from any of your searches (max. 2,500 records). Mark records as follows:

  • Select the black 'Unmarked' icon . This will change to the green 'Marked' icon .
    For this your browser needs Javascript enabled.
  • Select the 'Mark this record' link next to the record.
    This is only visible if CSS is not enabled in your browser.

Choose the 'Marked list' option, on the right of the screen to view and amend your list of Marked records.

To Download records select the 'Download' option. Save the records to a file or download via email. You can amend the 'Selected records' and the 'Format'. Record format examples are shown in the online Help.

Help and Advice

Online help is provided using the 'Help' option or the 'More...' link beside each field on the search forms.

For search assistance or information contact the Copac Helpdesk:
Email: copac@mimas.ac.uk
Tel: 0161 275 6037

Support pages