Catalog Tips: See What's On Order

Excited about soon-to-be-released comics, new movies coming out on DVD, or the hype surrounding a brand-new novel? Our catalog allows you to search things that are on order, even before they are available on our shelves. This blog will walk you through a couple of catalog tips that will help you discover new materials and place them on hold before they arrive at ICPL.

Step 1: Visit our website at icpl.org and type “on order” in our catalog search bar at the top of the page.

Step 2: The “on order” search will show you all items that have been recently ordered by selectors; everything from books, DVDs and sound recordings. This simple search gave me over 1500 items…. far more than I’m wanting to scroll through. Notice the “Refine by:” bar that I’ve circled below on the left. These checkboxes will help me limit my results, showing me just the items that I’m interested in.

Step 3: For my example, I want to see the DVDs that are on order. If I search “DVD Collection” under Location, I can see that this filter will pull up 100 results (there is also a “DVD” checkbox under Format, which would show me all the children’s DVDs as well). 

Step 4: After narrowing down my search to the DVD Collection, I can scroll through the DVDs that have been placed on order. I notice that the first season of “His Dark Materials” has been ordered for the collection! I’ve had a couple friends recommend this to me, so I place this on hold right away. You can place holds by clicking the "Place Hold" button on the right side of the item you want and entering your library card number and password. I know my hold was successful because the button beside my selection now says “Edit Hold” instead of “Place Hold” while I am still logged in.

Use this catalog search tip to find new resources that have been placed on order at ICPL. The “Refine By” checkboxes on the left-hand side will help you search for the items that you are interested in; whether you want to explore sound recordings, children’s picture books, foreign films or any of the other categories you can find in the library. Place your items on hold and we will notify you when they become available for you to check out! Questions about this tip? Library staff can be reached at 319-356-5200 Mondays through Fridays between 10AM and 6PM. You can also email or chat at icpl.org/ask.