Check Available Sources for a Title

Maintaining accurate catalog records is vital for your students and teachers to know which information and resources are available. You can easily access and import thousands of title records from Alliance Plus® and Z-Source databases into Destiny Library Manager.

Because there may be an existing record in your collection, Alliance Plus Online or a Z39.50 server that would meet your needs or require only minor modifications, Follett recommends that you first search for a record.

Search for a Record

  1. Select Catalog > Add Title > Check Sources sub-tab.

    Check Sources sub-tab, with entry fields highlighted.

  2. Use the Find drop-down to select the material type or Any type.
  3. Use the with drop-down to select Title, Author, Subject, LCCN, ISBN or ISSN.

    Note: Follett recommends you search by ISBN to ensure you are not duplicating records.

  4. In the third field, type a number or search term.

    Notes:

    • Use a standard number to find a specific record.
    • Make sure to enter the complete number. Standard number searches return only exact matches.

    • If you enter an ISBN, Destiny searches for both the 10-digit and the 13-digit form of the ISBN.
      For the fastest results for a book in hand, scan the book's ISBN barcode, usually found on the back cover.

    • If you do not have a standard number, try searching by the title, author or subject. Enter as much of the name as you can.
      If a title begins with a single letter that is not a leading article (for example, A is for America), surround the title with quotation marks.

  5. Click Go.
  6. On the Search Results page, scroll to find the item you searched for. The source of the title record is indicated by the icon next to its title.

    Title in district catalog. The red schoolhouse indicates the record is already in your district’s catalog. If there is a district record in the search results, use that record to avoid duplication. You just need to add your library’s copies.

    Title in Alliance Plus. The “A+” indicates the record is in the Alliance Plus database. If there is not a district title record in the search results, there might be a title record in the Alliance Plus database.

    The title record is in the z-source database. The lightning bolt indicates the record is in the Z-Source database. If there is not a district or Alliance Plus record available, you can choose to use a Z-Source record. Z-Source databases are owned by the host libraries, and you must set up access to them before you can find Z-Source search results.

    Search results of title in district catalog and Alliance Plus.

  7. To retrieve additional records from configured Z-Sources (Z39.50 servers), after clicking Go, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Get Z-Results.
    Note: If you need to configure your preferred Z39.50 servers, open the Update Z-Sources sub-tab.

Need to add a new title or add copies to an existing record? See Add Title and Add Copies (Library Manager).

For more on managing titles in your library catalog, see tutorials, training and videos in Follett Community.