Searching the Library Catalog   Tags: course reserves, interlibrary loan, library catalog, my library account  

In addition to basic search, you can find information on:

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Guide created by Douglas Library librarian, Ethan Masella.

The Library Catalog contains information on all of the resources that are physically available in the library. These resources include books, cds, dvds, magazines, newspapers, print journals, records, software, and vhs tapes.


Basic Search in Library Catalog

Click Library Catalog on the library's homepage to access the Basic Search screen. The default search for the library catalog is All Fields, which acts as a general keyword search. When you search by All Fields, it will look for your search terms anywhere in the record (e.g., title, author, contents). Searching by All Fields will generate the largest number of search results.

Other Search Types  

• Words in Title/ Title begins with... - searches only within the titles of records  

• Author (lastname, firstname) - useful if you're searching for multiple works by a specific author  

• Words in Subject/ Subject begins with.../ LC Subject Headings - Be careful when searching by subject, because these searches are only accurate when you know the exact Library of Congress Subject Headings for your topic. For example, searching for "forensic science" won't turn up accurate search results because resources are listed under subject headings such as, "forensic sciences, forensic psychology, etc."

If you're unable to locate the materials that you need, see our guide on Interlibrary Loan (ILL) or Ask a Librarian! for assistance.