FireFox Catalog Search Add-on

I've developed a search plug-in for the Firefox web browser which will allow users to search the Coker Library catalog directly from their browser. You can download it here: Coker College Mozilla Firefox Add-on. Mozilla, the development organization behind Firefox, hasn't full tested the search plug-in yet, but we've been testing here for a couple of weeks without any problems.

Give it a try and let us know here or elsewhere how you like it.

Also, here's a little Firefox tip. The search plug-in box controls the default search engine the browser uses for highlight searches. For instance, I was reading an article about the first Xerox copying machine (think about it: easily copied documents was a huge first step in the digital age) and found the author of a book on the subject by the name of David Owen. I highlighted his name, right-clicked on it, and was given the option to search our catalog for his name:

This trick works with whatever web service you have selected in the Search Box. By default, it will be Google for most people but there are thousands to choose from. Including a Coker library catalog search.

New Library Items RSS feed

If you want to keep track of new items here at the library, there are a couple of ways to do it.

I periodically update a Google Spreadsheet with new items. It is subdivided by collection, so you can see new titles in DVD, Art, or our Reference collections.

A newer method uses RSS feeds -- also known as Really Simple Syndication. Put this link in your RSS reader -- Google Reader and My Yahoo! are two popular readers -- and keep track of the newest additions to the Coker Library. Note that everything that gets added to our catalog will show up, including equipment and odd items like study room keys.