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How To Search the Catalogs

How to Start Searching

To search the Main Catalog or the Picture Catalog:

  1. Display a search page by selecting one of the catalogs listed on the left toward the top of the navigation bar.
  2. Select a search type, such as Author, Title, Subject, or Keyword.
  3. Type your search. (See our examples for Author, Title, Subject, Keyword, and Numeric searches.)
  4. Click the SEARCH button.

To search the catalogs of Other Libraries:

  1. Select the option labeled Other Libraries' Catalogs on the left navigation bar.
  2. Select the libraries you wish to search from the displayed list.
  3. Select a search type: Author Keyword, Title Keyword, Subject Keyword, or Any Keyword. (Only keyword searching is available for searching the catalogs of other libraries.)
  4. Type your search. (See our examples for Keyword searches.)
  5. Click the SEARCH button.

Author, Title, and Subject Searching

In the Main and Picture catalogs, your search options include Author, Title and Subject searching. Here's a few basic rules to get the most out of your Author, Title and Subject searches:

  • Author, Title, and Subject searches only find records that start with your search term(s). Using Author, Title, and Subject searches is similar to looking in a printed index.
  • Type your search words in the order in which you think they will appear in the library's records. If you're unsure, try a Keyword search.
  • You may use right truncation. In other words, you may omit the last words in your search phrase, or omit part of the last word in your search phrase. However, by omitting some of the ending words, your search becomes broader. See the examples under Author, Title, and Subject below.
  • Searching is not case sensitive. You may type in lower or upper case.
  • Punctuation is generally optional. The program accepts periods, commas, apostrophes, etc., but you do not have to enter them. The exception is the hyphen. If it is part of a name or term (such as low-cost or self-help), include the hyphen or substitute a space.
  • Spacing is normalized. The program ignores all extra spaces.

Author Searches

In the Main and Picture catalogs, select Author as your search type to retrieve works by a particular author. Enter the author's last name first. For example, TWAIN MARK (no comma needed). To search for an organization, enter the first few words of the organization's name (without skipping any words).

Examples of searching by Author in the Main Catalog:

  • starr kevin (for the author Kevin Starr)
  • starr (for all authors with last names that begin with the characters "starr")
  • oconnor (for all authors with last names that begin with the characters "oconnor" or "o'connor")
  • california association for local economic development (for works issued by the organization)
  • california association of (for all organizations with names that begin with the characters "california association of")

Title Searches

In the Main and Picture catalogs, select Title as your type of search to retrieve items by title. Don't type leading articles (a, an, the), but do type articles between words. Title searches work best if you are looking for a specific item and know the exact title. If you don't know the title, try an Author, Subject, or Keyword search.

Examples of searching by Title in the Main Catalog:

  • came the revolution
  • american life (for the title "An American Life")
  • preventing a toxic tomorrow
  • preventing (for all titles that begin with the word "preventing")

Subject Searches

In the Main and Picture catalogs, select Subject as your type of search to retrieve items by Library of Congress Subject Headings. If you are unsure of the subject heading, try a Keyword search! Hyphens are optional. To enter individuals as a subject, type the last name first.

Examples of searching by Subject in the Main Catalog:

  • insurance disability (for "Insurance, Disability")
  • groundwater california (for "Groundwater--California")
  • nonprofit organizations california san francisco bay area (for "Nonprofit organizations--California--San Francisco Bay Area")
  • nonprofit organizations (for "Nonprofit organizations" regardless of location)
  • sierra club (for works about the Sierra Club)
  • reagan ronald (for works about Ronald Reagan)

Keyword Searches

Select Keyword as your type of search to retrieve bibliographic records containing specific words located anywhere within the record. (This differs from Author, Title, or Subject searching where you must enter the beginning word(s)).

Keyword searching is generally the easiest type of search to do, but it also produces the largest "hit list." For example, if you type "plant" and click the Keyword button, you could get a list of items including works about green plants and nuclear plants, authors named Plant, titles of works containing the word plant, etc.

You may limit the number of hits you receive from a keyword search by using operators and qualifiers.

Examples of searching by Keyword or Any Keyword:

  • calaveras (for records containing the word "calaveras")
  • autobiography or memoir (for records containing either the word "autobiography" or the word "memoir")
  • disaster and relief (for records containing both the word "disaster" and the word "relief")
  • disaster relief (for records that contain the phrase "disaster relief")
  • mexico and ((disaster relief) or (disaster assistance)) not new (for records which contain the word "mexico" (but not the word "new") and either the phrase "disaster relief" or the phrase "disaster assistance")
  • AU starr (for records that contain the word "starr" in an author field)

Keyword Searching - Operators/Qualifiers

Keyword searches often produce long lists of items that may or may not be pertinent to your query. To help alleviate this problem, you can restrict the number of items retrieved by performing an "expert" keyword search by using Search Qualifiers and Boolean Operators with your search terms:

  • Search Qualifiers - These include author (au), title (ti), and subject (su).
  • Boolean Operators - These include AND, OR, and NOT.

Search Qualifiers

Search qualifiers allow you to limit your search to specific fields. Using search qualifiers speeds up response time and narrows the search to the more relevant records.

You can use Search Qualifiers by adding the following commands in your Keyword searches. In the other catalogs, you may use these terms when you perform an Any Keyword search. (If you are searching "Other Libraries' Catalogs", you also may qualify your search by selecting the Author Keyword, Title Keyword, or Subject Keyword search options from the drop down menu.)

au (author)

su (subject)

ti (title)

pu (publisher, place of publication, and/or date of publication)

nt (notes about the title)

bn (Internation Standard Book Number)

sn (Internation Standard Serial Number)

lc (Library of Congress Control Number)

ln (Local Database Control Number)

Here are some examples:

su psychology not child This search retrieves all records on the subject psychology that do not contain the word child anywhere in the record.
ti profiles and au kennedy This search retrieves all database records with profiles in the title field and kennedy in the author field.
pu san francisco and pu 1906 This search retrieves all database records with san francisco and 1906 in the publisher field.
LN AEL-8120 This search retrieves the record that has a database control number of AEL-8120.

Boolean Operators

The words AND, NOT, and OR, when placed between search terms, change the way the system conducts a search. You may use more than one or repeat a Boolean Operator in the same search.

AND

The AND operator is used to tell the program to search for records that have both terms located somewhere in the record. The search results will ONLY include those records that have both terms.

Example: animals AND australia

The search results will contain records that have both the terms "animals" and the term "australia."

NOT

The NOT operator is used to exclude records that have a certain term or phrase in them. This operator is especially useful when searching for records with a term that has several different meanings. For example, if you were searching for information on Mexico, but not New Mexico, try the following:

Example: mexico NOT new

The resulting search set search results will contain records that have the term "mexico," but exclude those that have the term "new."

OR

The OR operator is used to search for records that have either or both search terms. This operator is used often with terms with similar meaning or usage.

Example: soviet union OR ussr

When doing complex searches, remember that OR is the final operation in the search command. You can picture the OR operator as the center of the command, combining all results of the operations to the left of the OR with all results of the operations to the right of it.

Keyword Truncation

To broaden your keyword search you may use symbol truncation ("wild cards"). There are two wild cards: the pound sign (#) and the question mark (?). This differs from Author, Title, and Subject searches that use right truncation. Here are some examples of symbol truncation. (CAUTION! At least three characters must precede the ? or the #. For example, the search sm? is not allowed and will retrieve 0 records.)

# - The pound sign represents a single character.

For example:

  • sm#th may retrieve smith or smyth
  • wom#n may retrieve woman or women
  • bird# may retrieve bird or birds

? - The question mark represents many characters at the end of a search term.

For example:

  • smith? may retrieve smith, smithson, smithsonian
  • dream? may retrieve dream, dreams, dreaming

Numeric Searches

Numeric searches are used primarily by librarians. If you enter the full number, you receive a display for a single record. However, if you enter just the beginning of a number, you retrieve a hit list. A brief explanation of each type follows. WARNING: Do not limit numeric searches by date, language, or type of material; the results of a limited numeric search are not accurate.

Call Number

A Call Number search retrieves the bibliographic call number, not the item level call number that is assigned to each physical piece. Example: KFC1038.Z9 H68 2001.

Original Record Number

Records obtained from cataloging sources such as RLIN, OCLC, and UTLAS include an original record number. Example: RLINCCSL01-B180

ISBN

International Standard Book Number. Enter the 10-digit number without spaces or hyphens. Example: 0923956670

ISSN

International Standard Serial Number. Enter the eight-digit number, separating the two sets of four digits with a hyphen or a space. Example: 0278-4254

Reference Numbers

Technical reference and report numbers. Example: RAND DB 228

LC Control Number

Library of Congress Control (aka Card) Number. Enter the eight-digit number exactly as it would appear in a bibliographic record. Example: 98001010

Database Control Number (DBCN)

Data base control numbers are the unique identification number assigned to each bibliographic record. Example: AEL-8120.

Limiting A Search (Optional)

Once you have composed your author, title, subject, or keyword search, you may limit it. (Limit options are different in the different catalogs.) (Do not limit numeric searches; the results of a limited numeric search are inaccurate.)

By date

Click the arrow to display a list of dates. Then choose the appropriate date. For example, if you want a list of items published only in 1995, select 1995.

By language

Click the arrow to display a list of languages. Then choose the appropriate language. For example, if an author writes books in both English and Spanish, and you want a list of the English books, select English.

By material

Click the arrow to display a list of library materials. Then choose the appropriate material. For example, if you want to search for only manuscripts about gold, select Manuscripts.

The "Request-This-Title" Feature

If you are an employee of the State of California, you can request titles in the Main Catalog by clicking on the "Request This Title" button that appears when records display. Just complete the online form. A State Library staff member will contact you, usually the next business day, with details about the item's availability. If you plan to request several titles, you also have the option of using the My List feature.

If you are not an employee of the State of California, do not use the "Request This Title" feature. Instead, contact your local library. Your library may be able to borrow the item from the State Library for you. Be sure to have a complete citation (author, title, publisher, date, and volume/issue number) when you contact your local library. You can use the My List feature to email one or more citations to yourself.

The "My List" Feature

The My List feature allows you to collect specific records into a group, and then download the records to your workstation. You also can email the records to yourself. (State employees also may use the My List feature to request materials via email. See the details below.)

To use the My List feature, just select the "Add to My List" option that appears above every title. (If you are viewing a list where each line has a link to the number of titles, click on the number of titles link to see the "Add to My List" option".) You also may add all of the records in a hitlist at one time by selecting the "Add All Items To My List" option, which appears at the top of all hitlists.

Once you are finished adding records to My List, display your list by selecting the My List option in the left-hand navigation bar. (Or, select the "Show My List" option at the top of most hitlist displays.) You have the option of downloading or emailing the citations.

When you download the citations, you have a choice of three formats: brief record format, full record format, or in a MARC-coded format used by librarians.

When you email the citations, you have a choice of two formats: brief record format or the full record format.

NOTE: If you are a State Employee and want to borrow the items on your list, you can email your list to the State Information and Reference Center, cslsirc@library.ca.gov. You must include your name, phone number, and email address in your message. Here's how: email My List to your own email address, edit the received message by adding your contact information (name, state agency, and work phone), then forward your message to the State Information and Reference Center, cslsirc@library.ca.gov.

Unless you erase My List, it will persist throughout your session. However, My List is erased whenever you use the "Start Over" button, or your session ends.

How To Get More Help

If you need additional assistance using the catalogs, or have other questions, please contact one of the public service desks of the California State Library.