Introduction to Searching the Catalog   Tags: library_catalog, searching, tutorial, videos  

The following steps demonstrate how to search for books in the library about a specific topic. Although it requires a few more steps than simple keyword searching, you'll save time in the long run, knowing your search results are more likely to be relevant to your topic.

1. Choose to search by Subject

• You can select this option from the library homepage or from the right side of the catalog page.

2. Think of a word or phrase that best represents the subject you are researching.

• In some instances, the catalog may tell you that you should use another word or phrase instead of the one you chose. (For example, if you search for "cars," the catalog will tell you to see "automobiles" instead.)

3. Click on the results to view books

• When you click on one of the blue subject headings, you will see all the books that are associated with that subject. The power of searching by subject lies in the fact that individuals who read these books have already assigned subject headings to them. Thus, you can be confident that these books really are related to your subject, unlike some search results you get from keyword searches.

Check out the video below to see how this sort of search works.

After starting the video, you can click on "CC" to toggle closed captioning on and off, and you can use the screen icon to view the video full-screen.