Basics of Information Search

MetCat Finna

MetCat Finna is Metropolia library's online service that leads you to both printed and electronic information.

Printed resources

• search the collections
• locate a book, printed journal, sheet music or recording 
• check whether the book is available

Electronic resources

MetCat Finna allows you to search for e-resources. Links in the search results take you to the relevant e-resource.

• resources acquired by Metropolia
• publications freely available online

Did you know?

MetCat Finna helps you find information on both printed and electronic resources. MetCat Finna does this by contacting other services.

​Search in MetCat Finna

1. Library’s collections
2. International e-resources

Library’s collections

• the library’s printed resources
• the library’s licensed e-resources

International e-resources

• the library’s licensed e-resources
• e-resources freely available online (open access)

Looking for information about a topic?

If you need information about a specific topic

• Start with a central word. This search operates in the same way as Google: the results may have the search term, for example, in the title or table of contents.
• Also try searching in English.

Looking for a specific book?

Enter the name of the book or the beginning of its name in the search field in MetCat Finna’s basic search.

If you get too many results, put the name in quotes, for example "Atlas of Human Anatomy". The same method also applies to other resources, such as journals.

E-resources in MetCat Finna

You can access different e-resources through links in MetCat Finna. The service includes links to

• databases
• e-resource services
• e-books
• e-journals
• e-articles

International e-resources search

Please note! When searching in MetCat Finna’s international e-resources, it is recommended that you narrow down your search by selecting the boxes Full text available and Peer reviewed on the right side of the search result.

Sorting and narrowing the results list

• relevance/year
• narrowing tools (content type, library/collection)

Advanced search

Advanced search allows you to perform searches in more detail.

Combining search terms

You can combine search terms with Boolean operators

• With all these (AND)
• With any of these (OR)
• With none of these (NOT)

Targeting the search

You can target your search to a specific piece of information, for example

• Title (name of the work)
• Author
• Table of contents

Search fields and search groups

You can add search fields and search groups

• By adding search fields, you can add search terms inside a search group.
• By adding search groups, you can combine several search fields and define their relationships with the Boolean operators AND (all groups) and OR (any groups).

Narrowing the search

You can narrow down the search result on the right side of the results page: “Narrow search”

You can narrow the result in many ways, for example, using the following criteria:

• Content type (e.g. book, e-book, sheet music, article)
• Year (e.g. 2019)
• Acquisition time (e.g. last 3 months)
• Location (e.g. Myllypuro, Theseus)

How to interpret the search results

The search produces more than one result

• The search result page shows a summary of the work’s availability in all Metropolia and 3UAS campus libraries.
• Green dot = at least one copy of the book in question is available 
• X = all copies are loaned out.

Click on the title to see more information about individual items.

The search produces one result

With only one search result, the detailed record of the item opens up directly. The information includes 

• due dates of books loaned out
• requests made on the material
• you can also make requests here (however, you must log in first)

E-resources in the search result

The search results may also include e-resources. The results list and the detailed records usually contain a link to the e-book or e-article. You can access e-resources when you are logged into MetCat Finna with your Metropolia user ID.

Saving the search result

You can save your search results in MetCat Finna. 

When you are logged in, you can save individual search results (by clicking on the pin icon) or complete searches (Save search link at the bottom of the list) onto your account.

This allows you to collect interesting information for later use and continue examining the search results when it is convenient.

Favourites

You can save book lists by topic in MetCat Finna’s Favourites. These lists can be either private or public. The address of a public list can be copied from the browser. You can then share the address.

You can move bibliographic references from the search result to your favourites by clicking on the Save to list pin icon. The Favourites tab allows you to organise your references according to title, author, date or content type. You can also give names and add keywords and notes to lists. You can share references you have saved or forward them by email.

Making requests

In order to make requests, you must be logged into the service. It is better to log in beforehand.

1. Conduct a search by topic or locate the specific item you want to request.
2. When logged in, requests are made by selecting “Place a request” either in the search results or in the record of the book.
3. Remember to choose the library where you wish to pick up your request.
4. You will receive an email notification when the book can be picked up from the location of your choice. Requests that are not picked up are subject to a €2 fee.

Renewing your loans

1. Log in. You will automatically see a list of your loans when you log in to MetCat Finna.
2. Select the loans you wish to renew individually or alternatively “Select all" > “Renew selected loans”.
3. You cannot renew loans that are requested by others or that have already been renewed 10 times. In this case, no selection box is available next to the image of the book.