Oviatt Library Catalog

Keyword Search Tips

A keyword search looks for words in the title, author, subject and note fields. Multiple words are searched together as one phrase. You may use the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT to expand or narrow search results. Use an asterisk (*) to search word variations.

• gender and media
• college or university
• government and not federal

Title Search Tips

Type as much or as little of the TITLE as you want. For best results do not type initial articles.

For example:

• Around The World In Eighty Days
• Harvard Business Review
• Los Angeles Times
• War and Peace

Author Search Tips

For people, enter last name first, e.g.:

• Cisneros Sandra
• Gould Stephen Jay

For companies, institutions etc. as author, use normal word order, e.g.:

• National Research Council
• United States General Accounting Office

Subject Search Tips

A SUBJECT search will locate materials by Library of Congress Subject Headings. A Subject can be a topic, person, place, event, etc. You must use the exact beginning of a subject heading to do a subject search.

When you can, be specific:

• Violence on Television
• Human Cloning
• United States Civil War