Library Catalog Search Tips
Simple Searching:
Keyword search tips:
- enter words and/or phrases above
- use quotes to search phrases: "world wide web"
- use + to mark essential terms: university college +education +statistics
- use ? to truncate: typing teen? brings up teen, teens, teenager, teenagers, etc., and wom?n finds woman and women
- use ! to eliminate terms: +pollution +air !sound !noise
- do not use AND, OR, or NOT. Use + and - signs instead
Author, Title, Journal Title, and Subject search tips:
- the system automatically truncates on the right, e.g. typing the word teen brings up teen, teens, teenager, etc.
- searching by author: enter the last name first
- searching by title or journal title: enter as much of the title as you know, omitting initial articles (a, the, la, los)
- searching by subject: enter a subject heading, omitting all punctuation, e.g. environmental degradation
Boolean search tips:
- use and, or, not to combine search terms
- use quotes to search phrases, e.g. to search for the phrase educational technology type "educational technology" (using quotation marks)
- use opening and closing parentheses to group search terms, e.g. (guns or firearms) and schools
- use ? to truncate, e.g. teen? finds teen, teens, teenager, etc.
Call number search tips:
- enter as much of the call number as you know, ignoring spaces
Advanced Search Tips:
- enter search terms in box
- use drop-down menus to define scope of terms
- choose a field (keyword anywhere, title, author, subject, etc.)
- to combine sets, choose from drop-down menu (AND, OR, NOT)
