UNB WorldCat / Quest Frequently Asked Questions

Why does UNB have 2 library catalogues?

UNB WorldCat allows you to search UNB Libraries' material and beyond, providing access to more resources than in Quest. UNB WorldCat cannot perform all of the functions of Quest so it is necessary to use Quest to find some types of material.

What is UNB WorldCat?

UNB WorldCat is a massive library catalogue. It includes over 138 million bibliographic records from libraries worldwide along with selected journal articles and Internet resources. UNB WorldCat searches all these libraries' records, but provides a view which ranks UNB Libraries' material first.

Please note: As a temporary measure, UNB WorldCat is searching only UNB Libraries' material. To expand your search, select Libraries Worldwide from the drop down box to the right of your search on the library homepage or on the results page use the drop down box below the search box

UNB WorldCat works in conjunction with our existing library catalogue, Quest, to provide real-time availability information for material held by UNB Libraries (Location, Call Number, and Due Date). Please note that not all material found in UNB WorldCat is available/accessible to UNB students, faculty and staff.

What is Quest?

Quest is a library catalogue which contains records for the material held by the Harriet Irving Library, the Engineering Library, the Science and Forestry Library, and the Gerard V. La Forest Law Library on the Fredericton campus, and the Ward Chipman Library on the Saint John campus.

Why use UNB WorldCat?

UNB WorldCat provides relevancy ranking where Quest does not. UNB WorldCat also includes material UNB does not own, providing you with a "Request item" link which takes you to Document Delivery form with the relevant information filled in.

How do I perform a search in UNB WorldCat?

Please refer to the UNB WorldCat Search Help

Where can I find more information on advanced searching in UNB WorldCat?

UNB WorldCat has numerous Index Labels which can be used to search on specific pieces of information. For example, an ISBN can be search using isbn: 9780763625894. The complete list can be viewed here:UNB WorldCat Index Labels.

How do I perform a search in Quest?

Please refer to the Quest Search Help

When should I use Quest and when should I use UNB WorldCat?

We've set up a page to give you the answers. Click here for a comparison chart.

Can I find articles in UNB WorldCat?

Some journal articles are searchable through UNB WorldCat. The article databases currently searchable in UNB WorldCat are listed below. NOTE: Comprehensive journal article searches are best done with the article & research databases for a particular subject. See our subject guides for recommendations.

  • Academic Search Premier
  • Art Index
  • Bibliography of Native North Americans
  • BioMed Central
  • Business Source Premier
  • Early English Books Online
  • Emerald Group Publishing
  • MLA International Bibliography
  • JSTOR
  • British Library - Article records produced by the British Library as part of the British Library Inside program
  • ERIC - Journal articles and reports in education
  • ArticleFirst - OCLC index of articles from the contents pages of journals
  • Electronic Collections Online (ECO) - OCLC collection of scholarly journals
  • MedLine - All areas of medicine, including dentistry and nursing
  • Elsevier Science Direct & SCOPUS, 2006 forward
  • CAMIO - Catalog of Art Museum Images Online
  • OAIster - Union catalogue of digital resources. OAIster was originally developed at the University of Michigan Libraries
  • PapersFirst - OCLC index of papers presented at conferences worldwide
  • ProceedingsFirst - OCLC index of worldwide conference proceedings
  • PsycARTICLES

In addition, the following databases may be selected to search from the Advanced Search screen. Select Add / Remove databases and check the box beside each database.

  • ACM Digital Library
  • Annual Reviews
  • Book Review Digest
  • ERIC
  • IEEE Xplore
  • MEDLINE
  • Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA)

What can I find in Quest but not in UNB WorldCat?

  • Course reserves.
  • Some material located in the Forestry Files Collection. (Quest location: SCI-FORF)
  • Some Archives and Special Collections material in the Harriet Irving Library.
  • Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection journal titles held in the Ward Chipman Library, Special Collections.
  • Approximately 20,000 Government Documents brief catalogue records. (HIL-GOV location in Quest)
  • Undergraduate reports, e.g. Engineering Senior Reports. (Quest location: ENG-SENRPT)
  • On-order records.

Some of this material will have records in WorldCat but UNB Libraries will not show up as an owning library.

Why am I seeing a pop-up box asking me if I want to login or continue as a guest?

When you are searching UNB WorldCat from off-campus certain databases require you to login before they can be searched. Logging in gives you all available search results. If you continue as a guest you will get the results from those databases that do not require a login.

What is the difference between WorldCat FirstSearch and UNB WorldCat?

WorldCat FirstSearch (available in the red Catalogues menu on the library homepage) does not include journal article records and does not provide the same relevancy ranking as UNB WorldCat. The relevancy ranking is not based on whether UNB owns an item. Document Delivery requests cannot be made from within WorldCat FirstSearch.

WorldCat FirstSearch does provide a more detailed view of records (more notes are displayed, including title changes for journals) and provides more searchable fields than UNB WorldCat. More record information can be exported from WorldCat FirstSearch into RefWorks than from UNB WorldCat.

Who are the Atlantic Research Libraries?

The Atlantic research libraries consist of academic libraries from across Atlantic Canada who contribute their library holdings to WorldCat:

  • Acadia University
  • Atlantic School of Theology
  • Cape Breton University
  • Dalhousie University
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • Mount Allison University
  • Mount Saint Vincent University
  • Nova Scotia Agricultural College
  • Saint Mary's University
  • Saint Francis Xavier University
  • Université de Moncton
  • Université Sainte-Anne
  • University of King's College
  • University of Prince Edward Island

We'd like to hear your comments. Do you like the new UNB WorldCat? Do you prefer Quest? Tell us what you think at worldcat@unb.ca