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Basic Searching

There are several standard ways to search the library's catalog:

  • Author
  • Title
  • Subject
  • ISBN
  • Call Number
  • Keyword
Below are tips on using these various search methods.

  • AUTHOR
    Enter the name of the author, artist, performer, etc., last name first.
    For example:
    dylan
    grisham, john
    angelou, m

    You may also type the name of a group, organization, corporation, or governmental body.
    For example:
    American Red Cross
    MGM
    American Medical Association
  • TITLE
    Type as much or as little of the title as you want.
    For example:
    gone with the wind
    gone with the w
    gone
  • SUBJECT
    Type as much or as little of the subject as you want.
    The subject search uses a specific, controlled vocabulary (subject "headings") for describing library material. If you do not find what you are looking for in the subject index, try a keyword search (see below). Or ask a librarian for assistance.
    For example:
    cookery france
    motion pictures
    United States History Civil War

    You can also search names of authors and groups as subjects.
    For example:
    Beatles
    Catholic Church
    United States Congress

  • ISBN
    Type the ten- or thirteen-digit ISBN as it appears. Omit punctuation and spaces.
    For example:
    0060254920
    0060254920125
  • CALL NUMBER
    Type the call number prefix or the Dewey class to "browse" our holdings.
    For example:
    REF
    J
    SP
    CD-MUSIC CLASSICAL
    DVD FOREIGN
    200
    320.1
    973.931092
  • KEYWORD
    Keyword searching is familiar as the search you perform using Google or Amazon. Keyword searching retrieves words that may appear in any combination of fields describing your item: author, title, publisher, notes, subject, etc. Keyword search can be very specific but may give you too many results without relevance.


    Because the catalog is based on controlled headings and types of collections, you may find keyword searching unnecessary or complicated. Keyword searching works in databases and on the web but is less effective when searching a library catalog.

    Keyword searching can use advanced techniques: adjacency, truncation, proximity, operators and field limits to more precisely find items you need. You can also use Advanced Keyword Search to apply "field limits" such as collection, location, publisher, date, and sorting of results. To perform an advanced search, use the Advanced Keyword Search form.

    • TYPES OF KEYWORD SEARCHES

      Phrase Searches
      Search for complete phrases by enclosing them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes will appear together in all results exactly as typed.
      For example:
      "world trade organization"

      Wildcards
      Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk.
      Use a single asterisk * to truncate from 1-5 characters.
      For example:
      environment* polic*

      Use a double asterisk ** for open-ended truncation.
      For example:
      inter**

      Use a question mark ? to replace a single character anywhere within a word.
      For example:
      wom?n

      Boolean Operators
      Use AND or OR to specify multiple words in any field, any order.
      For example:
      stocks and bonds

      Use AND NOT to exclude words. Select the operator you wish to use from the selection list. Parentheses group words together when using Boolean operators.
      For example:
      (atlantic or pacific) and (ocean life and not mammals)

      Proximity Operators
      The NEAR operator is used to retrieve records that contain the specified words or phrases within ten words of each other in the same indexed field.
      For example:
      museums near travel

      The WITHIN operator is similar to the NEAR operator, but allows the user to specify the maximum number of words that may appear between the specified words. WITHIN 10 and NEAR are equivalent.
      For example:
      health within 3 diet