What's new in bonnus - an overview
Due to Alma@UniBonn a fully revamped version of the bonnus search portal went live in August 2023.
An overview is provided below of the primary changes reflected in the new search portal:
Summary of changes:
User accounts | Search| Hit lists| Availability | Borrowing periods
User accounts
New password required
You will find your user account with all pre-existing data in the new bonnus search portal. It was not possible however to keep previous passwords, for technical reasons. You therefore have to choose a new password upon initial login.
Procedure
- To log in to your account in bonnus, click on Sign in at the top right on the website of the bonnus search portal.
- Type in your user number with leading zeros. Your user number is found on the back of your library card.
- Now either enter anything as password or click "Forgot my password" under "Need help signing in?".
- A new window opens. There you can either enter either your user number or your email address on file with the system. For staff and students this will generally be your University of Bonn email address.
- You then receive an email sent to the email address on file. Follow the link sent to you in the email.
- Choose a new, secure password (minimum 8 characters).
You have now successfully set a new password and can log in to the bonnus search portal again.
It’s all new in bonnus?! — How do I log in?
Please note that you will also need this data (user number and password) for interlibrary loans and our booking system.
The video tutorial has only english voice over. A fully english tutorial (text + voice over) will be available at a later date.
Changing your contact data on your own
Now it is possible to change your contact data on your own in your user account—your postal address, email address and phone number. Please note that you are obligated to ensure that the data entered here are correct and up to date.
Further information on your user account.
Search
You should log in with your user data before running a search to ensure that all search results are displayed.
Search area
The bonnus search function searches the entire collection of materials (print and electronic) of USL (Main Library and MNL Branch Library) and of all departmental and institution libraries as well as licensed and open-access papers.
A few items may be displayed which are not available in Bonn and have to be ordered via Interlibrary Loan. This will particularly be the case when you extend your search via "Search in Full Text". "Available in Bonn?" is now no longer shown as a status.
Significant improvements have been made to the search for full text materials.
Library data for print and electronic editions are now often combined in a single record in bonnus. (see also section on Hit Lists). Links to the full text are now displayed more prominently in the Detail view.
New search options just below the search line
- That contain all query words: By default, all search terms entered are applied for the search, irrespective of their order.
- Begins with: When this option is selected, the title field is automatically searched. The entered search terms in this case are the first words of the title sought. This option is particularly useful when searching for magazines or newspapers which have a title of a very unspecific nature. For example, the newspaper Die Zeit.
- That equal the exact phrase: When this option is selected, your search terms are searched for in the given order.
- You can also specify that only search terms entered in certain search fields are to be searched for. By default, the search terms entered may be found in any search field.
Voice search and other features
Voice search allows to enter search terms via speech entry. This is a feature that we first want to test. You are thus invited to provide user feedback!
Please note that this feature is not available in Firefox; you therefore have to use an alternative browser
Now you can conveniently share your search via QR code, using the QR icon in the top right corner.
The new bonnus now supports a range of filters. Filters employed have to be reapplied for each search query.
Another new feature is that different book editions and versions are now shown combined as one single hit list item under "Multiple Versions". Click on "See all versions" to view a list of all specific titles from which to select the match you are looking for.
The search indexing functionality also recognizes parallel editions (print and online) of a given title and shows the availability of both versions in a combined library record.
Search indexing involves numerous technical processes that run in the background. For more information on these processes (Match&Merge, Dedup, FRBR) and individual components of bonnus can be found here (currently only in German).
The bonnus search portal now retrieves targeted, user group-specific information on the availability of materials.
Thus you can only get correct information on availability pertinent to you individually after logging in with your user data. We thus recommend you always log in to bonnus before executing your research queries. Your user data are your user number (found on the back of your library card, with the leading zeros) and the password you chose. Please note: you have to choose a new password the first time you log in to the new system.
Detailed information on the displaying of availability info will follow.
On a trial basis, all borrowing periods are now standardized in the new library management system. The loan period for all borrowable media is now 28 days. Media can be renewed up to two times if they have not been reserved in the meanwhile. Your borrowing period may be shortened if someone else has placed a reservation for the item in question. You receive email notification accordingly in such case. You can also view the respective return deadline at the elapse of the borrowing period in your user account.
Contact
Send any questions and comments you may have about the bonnus search portal by email to ebib@ulb.uni-bonn.de.