Curious About Improving Your Search Results? Then Check Out the Information Below
The Simple Search (Combined Search) page allows you to:
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Specify the search terms
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The type of search (keyword, author, title, subject, etc.)
To perform a search, you must do the following:
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Enter the word(s) you want to search for in the Find this: field
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Select the type of search that you want to perform by choosing a search type from the Find Results in: list
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Click the Search button to begin your search. Click the Reset button to clear the search page
To limit your search to journals available in the library, use OCLC Worldcat's Journal search link. You can find it on any of the search screens, towards the bottom of the screen. After clicking on it, you can search for a journal title or for journals in a specific subject area, such as accounting or botany.
To limit your search to DVDs available in the library, use OCLC Worldcat's DVD search link. You can find it on any of the search screens, towards the bottom of the screen. After clicking on it, you can search for a video or DVD title or for video and DVDs in a specific subject area, such as education, counseling or psychology.
When searching the eReserve system, you will need to know at least one of the following:
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The instructor's last name
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Department
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Course or section
You can find the eReserve search in (OCLC worldcat) or by using the Quick search option on the Library's main page.
The ADVANCED SEARCH screen has to option of letting you use AND, OR, or NOT (boolean operators).
To perform an Advanced Search:
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Type in the search term(s) you want to find in the Search For free text field.
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Select from the Search In drop-down list whether you want to search for all the search terms, any of the search terms, or the search terms as a phrase.
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Select which Boolean operator you want applied to the next search term(s): AND, OR, or NOT using the radio buttons.
Click the Search button to begin your search. Click the Reset button to clear the search page.
An explanation of hot these limiters work are as follows:
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AND all search terms must be present (Lewis AND Narnia) in the records to include the record in the search results
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OR two more terms that do not need to appear, but at least one of them must be present (dog OR canine)
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NOT is used when you want to EXCLUDE a record (Clinton NOT Bill)
You can limit searches by:
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Year
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Language
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Medium (video, map, slides, etc.)
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Type
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Place of Publication
Try not to start with vary narrow search criterias, as you will miss related items. Start as broadly as possible, and then limit the initial broad search in carefully designed steps.
Note: You cannot limit Heading (subject, author, and call number) or Course Reserve Searches.
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To limit your search by a year, type the year in the Year text box in the format YYYY. Then click the appropriate radio button for the date range that you want to find. For example, to find all texts published before 1850, type 1850 in the text box and then click the radio button next to the less than symbol (<).
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To limit your search by Language, Type, Medium, and Place of Publication, click on the appropriate drop-down list and select the limiting criteria.
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Click the Set Limits button to begin your search. Click the Reset button to clear the limits and start your search again.
You may also wish to refer to the
Library Tutorial, which has information on how to navigate and search OCLC worldcat.
