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I want to search 5 library catalogs at once

  • 12 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I would like to search five libraries at one time. Is there a way I could create a simple webpage or whatnot so that I could type in my search word once and then have five different libraries' search engines running at the same time with the same search word?


They are in this sort of syntax:

https://www.LibraryA.com/search?query=%s

https://www.LibraryB.com/search?query=%s

https://www.LibraryC.com/search?query=%s

https://www.LibraryD.com/search?query=%s

https://www.LibraryE.com/search?query=%s

where ”%s” is all the same keyword/phrase.

I would like to search five libraries at one time. Is there a way I could create a simple webpage or whatnot so that I could type in my search word once and then have five different libraries' search engines running at the same time with the same search word? They are in this sort of syntax: https://www.LibraryA.com/search?query=%s https://www.LibraryB.com/search?query=%s https://www.LibraryC.com/search?query=%s https://www.LibraryD.com/search?query=%s https://www.LibraryE.com/search?query=%s where ”%s” is all the same keyword/phrase.

Modified by tailonfire

All Replies (12)

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McCoy, that doesn't help. These searches are searches in library catalogues, not the World Wide Web.

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I must have misconstrued your question, but I notice that you edited your original post after my suggestion ..... (?)



I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but would you please take a look at this :

https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/searching-multiple-libraries-with-the-chrome-library-extension/63886

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libraryextension/

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Maybe try a JavaScript bookmarklet.


javascript:(function(){var sl=['https://www.LibaryA.com/search?query=!!','https://www.LibaryB.com/search?query=!!','https://www.LibaryC.com/search?query=!!','https://www.LibaryD.com/search?query=!!','https://www.LibaryE.com/search?query=!!'],so,sp,sn;if((sp=prompt('Search terms',''))!=null){sp=encodeURIComponent(sp);for(sn in sl){so=sl[sn].replace('!!',sp);if(prompt('open',so)){window.open(so)}}}})()

Modified by cor-el

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Again you edited your original post after I posted a suggestion ....

Would you please use the "Post a Reply" box to post additional information ?

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cor-el, thanks. Is there a way I can just type something like "lib foo fie" in Firefox's search bar, and all five library catalogs will be searched without having to click on the bookmarklet?

It seems that with the bookmarklet, I have to do a lot of clicking... Clicking to allow pop-ups. Clicking to return to the original tab to allow future dialog windows.

Modified by tailonfire

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Modified by cor-el

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corel, why are there 2 codes in your last reply?

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Both codes do the same, only the second code is more compact and uses '%s' only in windows.open (the links have a blank query parameter). You only need to use one of them.

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Corel, I tried the top code but it doesn't work, whether I do a keyword search (e.g., "e king") or clicking on the bookmark in my bookmark toolbar. When I click the bookmark, nothing appears. When I type "e king" in the URL bar, it just seems to paste the javascript code into the URL bar.

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How about a basic HTML page that can do this?

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You can disable the pop-up blocker (i.e. allow all pop-up) in Firefox temporarily to allow the JavaScript to open the tabs.