Guide to Searching the Library Catalog

Basic Search

Use when you want to find:

• A book by title
• A book by an author
• A specific magazine or journal that the library owns

Tips

• Use box at right for search type: author, title, journal title, etc.
• Personal author: last name first
• Corporate author: do not invert the name
• Title: omit initial articles (a, an, the, la, die, das, etc.)
• Journal title: omit initial articles
• Call number: include punctuation

Guided Keyword

Use when you are:

• Looking for books by topic, keywords
• Not familiar with using Boolean connectors and need guidance in constructing a search

Tips

• Use ? for truncation
• Select "as a phrase," "any of these," or "all of these" from the drop-down menu:
• Select field to search if desired
• Select Boolean operator (and, or, not) to combine with next set
• You must click "Search" to execute search

Keyword Boolean

For advanced searchers who are:

• Looking for books by topic, keywords, or a combination of topics, or an author's name and title words; requires use of Boolean connectors.

Note: Available as a pull-down option in the Quick Search and Basic Search modes.

Tips

• Use ? for truncation
• Use " " for phrases
• Use Boolean connectors to combine topics; Boolean operators (and, or, not)
• Use ( ) parentheses around terms connected with "or"
• Use to limit a term to a specific field, e.g., tkey for title keyword nkey for author name keyword

Keyword Relevance

Use when you want results ranked by a relevance formula. Use of Boolean operators is not required.

Note: Available as a pull-down option in the Quick Search and Basic Search modes.

Tips

• Use ? for truncation
• Use " " for phrases
• + indicates term must be present
• * indicates important term (or must be ranked high)
• ! indicates term must not be present
• All words entered are searched but not always found in retrieved citations do not use Boolean operators

Course Reserves

Tips

• Click one item from one (or more) of the following drop-down lists: Instructor, Department, or Course
• Click "Search" button to begin your search
• You cannot limit a Course Reserve search

Simple Limits and More Limits Options

Allows you to narrow your searches by restricting them to certain years, languages, types, mediums, or locations within the WMU library system

Tips

• Limits may be set for all search types except Author, Subject, or Call Number
• Limits will remain in effect until they are removed
• There are two ways to set limits: Available on the Basic Search screen, the "Simple Limits" option is a quick way of limiting your search to library location or some common types of library materials (e.g., children's books). Available in both the Basic Search or Guided Search screens, the "More Limits" option gives you a complete list of choices for limiting your search (e.g., language, date, etc.).
• To apply limits to results AFTER completing a search, click on the Post Limit button on the upper right of the screen containing your citations.