The keyword search is best used when you have a complex search term that contains keywords from more than one of the other searches (author, title, subject, or series). To search by keyword, type in your search terms and click submit.
The catalog automatically searches for any word anywhere.
For example: A keyword search for the term "Crusades" will yield all results that mention "Crusades" in the title as well as anywhere else.
Determine your keywords
1. List the main words from your essay question or research topic.
2. Add synonyms and related terms to your list.
3. Use reference works such as encyclopedias to learn the basic facts and background information about your topic and gather some additional keywords and search terms.
4. Then use these words when searching.
Use subject search when you know the subject heading.
For example: Islamic Empire -- History, Pilgrims and pilgrimages -- History
| Keyword | Subject |
| natural language words describing your topic - good to start with | pre-defined "controlled vocabulary" words used to describe the content of each item (book, journal article) in a database |
| more flexible to search by - can combine together in many ways | less flexible to search by - need to know the exact controlled vocabulary term |
| database looks for keywords anywhere in the record - not necessarily connected together | database looks for subjects only in the subject heading or descriptor field, where the most relevant words appear |
| may yield too many or too few results | if too many results - also uses subheadings to focus on one aspect of the broader subject |
| may yield many irrelevant results | results usually very relevant to the topic |
| Stop Words | Truncation | Wildcards |
|---|---|---|
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The following common words are ignored when searching:
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Use the Truncation symbol (*) to retrieve variations of a word stem. For example: nurse* will retrieve nurse, nurses, nursed.
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Substitute ? for one or more letters to find variant forms or when you’re unsure of the spelling. For example: ne?t will retrieve neat, nest or next. |
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000 General Reference, Information & Computers |
500 Natural Science & Mathematics 510 Mathematics 520 Astronomy & allied sciences 530 Physics 540 Chemistry & allied sciences 550 Earth sciences 560 Paleontology & Paleozoology 570 Life sciences 580 Botanical sciences 590 Zoological sciences |
| 100 Philosophy & Psychology 110 Metaphysics 120 Epistemology, causation, humankind 130 Paranormal phenomena 140 Specific philosophical schools 150 Psychology 160 Logic 170 Ethics (moral philosophy) 180 Ancient, medieval, oriental philosophy 190 Modern western philosophy |
600 Technology (Applied Sciences) 610 Medical sciences (Medicine, Psychiatry) 620 Engineering 630 Agriculture 640 Home economics & family living 650 Management 660 Chemical engineering 670 Manufacturing 680 Manufacture for specific use 690 Buildings |
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200 Religion |
700 Arts & Recreation 710 Civic & landscape art 720 Architecture 730 Sculpture 740 Drawings & decorative arts 750 Paintings & painters 760 Graphic arts (Printmaking & prints) 770 Photography 780 Music 790 Recreational & performing arts |
| 300 Social Sciences 310 General statistics 320 Political science 330 Economics 340 Law 350 Public administration 360 Social problems & services 370 Education 380 Commerce, communications, transport 390 Customs, etiquette, folklore |
800 Literature 810 American literature in English 820 English literature 830 Literature of Germanic language 840 Literatures of Romance language 850 Italian, Romanian, Rhaeto-Romanic Literatures 860 Spanish & Portuguese literatures 870 Italic literatures (Latin) 880 Hellenic literatures (Classical Greek) 890 Literatures of other languages |
| 400 Language 410 Linguistics 420 English & Anglo-Saxon languages 430 Germanic languages (German) 440 Romance languages (French) 450 Italian, Romanian, Rhaeto-Romanic 460 Spanish & Portuguese languages 470 Italic languages (Latin) 480 Hellenic languages (Classical Greek) 490 Other languages |
900 History & Geography 910 Geography & travel 920 Biography, genealogy, insignia 930 History of the ancient world 940 General history of Europe 950 General history of Asia (Far East) 960 General history of Africa 970 General history of North America 980 General history of South America 990 General history of other areas |