Home > Catalog > Catalog Instructions > Using the Catalog, Part 1
Basic Features: Searching
Quick Search
Quick Search is the catalog's basic search page:
To access Quick Search, click on the Quick Search tab on the top left side of the gray search box.
Enter your search terms the Search For box. The online catalog offers 7 search options. The default is Any Word Anywhere. This is an "or" search; "Cats and Dogs" will retrieve records containing "Cats" or "Dogs." Any Word Anywhere is very broad and may produce thousands of results. Other search options (such as Boolean or Subject) will produce a more focused result list.
Use Quick Limit (right below your search box) ) to limit your search by type of item, publication date, or location (e.g. Downtown Campus Library).
If you would like to add additional limits, click More Limits in the bottom right corner of the Quick Search box. Note that not all search options can be limited.
Advanced Search
Advanced Search approximates "terms and connectors" or "Boolean" searching. The Advanced Search uses a more finely-tuned query than Quick Search. To use the Advanced Search screen, click on the Guided Search tab at the top right of the gray search box.
Enter terms in the three search boxes (you do not have to use all three boxes). Click the radio buttons to link your search terms with And, Or, and/or Not . You can use more than one keyword in a search box and tell the catalog to search for all of the words, any of the words, or as a phrase.
Advanced Search has drop-down menus if you want to limit search terms to specific fields (e.g. "title words," "author words," etc.). You can also further limit queries by clicking on the "More Limits" button. Use More Limits to search by language, by library, by year(s) of publication, and by format (e.g., book, CD-ROM, etc.).
When you have entered your search terms and selected your limits, click on Search for your search results.
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