Basic Searching
By default, a basic search is a "keyword" search. After entering a search term, click the "Search" button or click "Enter" on your keyboard.
Expert searching
Expert searches (ones that contain index labels and Boolean operators) can be entered in any search box, including the search boxes on the Advanced Search screen.
Please noted: If you use an index label for one search term in the box, you must use index labels for all search terms. Otherwise those without labels will be treated as keyword.
Some of the more useful labels include: (using the : makes it a word search, so any word that matches in the field will result in a hit; using an = creates a phrase search so the words must be in that order to result in a hit)
Author (word) | au: | au:Shakespeare | formats: last name or first name |
Author (phrase) | au= | au=Shakespeare, William | formats: Last name, first name |
Genre Form (word) | ge: | ge: novel | |
Publisher (word) | pb: | pb: vintage | |
Publisher (phrase | pb= | pb= vintage books | searches for the complete phrase |
Title (word) | ti: | ti: existentialism | will return titles with existentialism |
Title (phrase) | ti= | ti=canterbury tales | omit initial articles(a, an, the). returns items with complete phrase |
Year | yr: |
yr:0099 |
qualifer |
See the Searching WorldCat: Index Quick Reference pdf below for a complete listing of labels.