Help Center

Simple search for library material
Advanced search for library material
Sorting of results
Save a search
Search multiple sources simultaneously using Encore
Renew an item you have checked out

Simple search for library material

Type the keyword(s) for the documents you want to retrieve. For example:

institutional (word in title)
design (subject you are interested in)
oscar wilde (author name)

Note: When searching, accents and diacritics are not taken into consideration, either in Greek or Latin script. E.g. πρωι = πρωί = πρωΐ, munchen = münchen.

Search Tips
Phrase search	Insert a phrase within quotation marks to search for it. Words in a phrase within quotations will appear in the results exactly as typed. Example : "human rights" (results will not include "human right" or "right human" – unless these cases include also the phrase exactly as typed in the search)
Wildcards	'' The asterisk corresponds to any number of consecutive characters with no space, starting from the specific position within the word. Example : europe (results will include all records containing words beginning with: Europe, European, Europeans, Europeanization, etc.) '?' The question mark corresponds to just one character anywhere you place it in the word. It is useful when you are not sure about the spelling, when there are more than one options of spelling, or when you wish to allow the character to take any value. Example : w??rd (in case you are not certain how the word "weird" is spelled, or if you are afraid that the word may have been misspelled in the record or even the document itself) organi?ation (in case you wish to include records containing the terms both in British [s] and U.S. [z] spelling) You may also combine in your search more than one wildcards within the same keyword. Example : organi?ation* (will return results containing: organisation, organization, organisations, organizations, organisational, organizational, etc.)
Boolean Operators	Use "and" or "or" or "not" to include more than one term in your search and broaden ("or") or narrow ("and", "not") the search. Examples : shares and bonds You will retrieve results containing both terms (i.e. fewer results compared to searching for each term separately) shares or bonds You will retrieve all results containing any of the two terms (i.e. more results compared to the previous example) shares not bonds: You will retrieve results containing the first term, but not results containing both terms (i.e. fewer results compared to searching only for the first term) Pay attention to parentheses, as they define the priority of operators. Example: (Alaska or canada) and (adventure or vacation) - You will retrieve results containing one of the first two terms, as well as one of the two latter terms

Advanced search for library material

Multiple-word search	When you search using more than one word, the system automatically inserts "and" between the words, although "and" does not appear. Words searched for will be included in all retrieved results, but not necessarily in the order they were typed. Both examples below will retrieve the same results. university science department university and science and department
Limit to a specific field	You can specify a field for the search to take place by choosing from a list. These limits appear right before the word/phrase to be searched. The system will look up the term(s) only in the field specified. Field limit and its meaning: Author: Search only by the author’s/creator’s name Title: Search only in the title of the work Subject: Search only in the subject field. Attention: subject terms must always be in English (e.g. environment, history), except in the case of Greek names and place names, which are recorded in Greek (e.g. λάρνακα, βάρναλης) Note: Search only in the notes field of the record (e.g. bibliograph*, if you want to search for records that in the notes field the a phrase such as "Includes bibliography." is contained.) Return to top
Sorting of results	Results of a keyword search are grouped by relevance (see below), so that the most relevant results appear first. Most relevant titles Highly relevant titles Very relevant titles Relevant titles Other relevant titles

Multiple-word search

When you search using more than one word, the system automatically inserts "and" between the words, although "and" does not appear. Words searched for will be included in all retrieved results, but not necessarily in the order they were typed. Both examples below will retrieve the same results.

university science department
university and science and department

Limit to a specific field

You can specify a field for the search to take place by choosing from a list. These limits appear right before the word/phrase to be searched. The system will look up the term(s) only in the field specified.

Field limit and its meaning:

Author: Search only by the author’s/creator’s name
Title: Search only in the title of the work
Subject: Search only in the subject field. Attention: subject terms must always be in English (e.g. environment, history), except in the case of Greek names and place names, which are recorded in Greek (e.g. λάρνακα, βάρναλης)
Note: Search only in the notes field of the record (e.g. bibliograph*, if you want to search for records that in the notes field the a phrase such as "Includes bibliography." is contained.) Return to top

Sorting of results

Results of a keyword search are grouped by relevance (see below), so that the most relevant results appear first.

Most relevant titles
Highly relevant titles
Very relevant titles
Relevant titles
Other relevant titles

Save a search

If you have a favorite author or subject that you search often for, you may save the search. This helps you to avoid repeating the same search every time for reservation purposes, etc. and facilitates the service.

How to save a search:

Connect to your account ("UCY Login", top right).
Perform a search of your choice.
When your results are displayed, click the button marked "Save as preferred search".
The next time you log in to your account, go to "My Library > My Account". You then click the "Preferred Searches" button to see a list of your saved searches.
You may request to receive notifications whenever new material that corresponds to your search is added to the catalogue. Just check the field "Mark for email" and make sure that you provide a valid email address.

Search multiple sources simultaneously using Encore

Encore performs a search in the catalogues and repositories of the University of Cyprus and Open University of Cyprus libraries. Encore is a useful tool in having a general view on your topic of interest and in locating certain available sources.

Advice for searching in Encore

Encore performs a simple search in all available sources. However, you may select specific sources by selecting "Advanced search". The advanced search in Encore allows you to combine terms from more than fields with use of Boolean operators "and", "or" and "not".

Renew an item you have checked out

Users who have a Member Card can renew checked out material through the Web. Any item may be renewed, unless it has been reserved by another user or it is already past the due date, or there are outstanding fines.

How to renew an item:

Click "UCY Login" (top right).
Type your username and password, and then select "Submit".
Check the title(s) for which you wish to extend the due date and select "Renew marked items". If you wish to renew all titles, then select "Renew all".
A message will appear on the screen informing you whether the renewal has been successful or not.

University of Cyprus & Open University of Cyprus Library Catalogue