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Author Search

What is an Author search?
Single Authors
Organizations/Group Authors
Limit/Sort Author Search

What is an Author search?

An author search looks for the name of the person or a group that has created or performed a work. This includes, authors, editors, composers, conductors, actors, directors, illustrators, translators, organizations or government agencies. An author search will find items by that author-not about that author. To find information about an author, try a SUBJECT SEARCH.
Single Authors

 

 

Always enter the last name first. If you are unsure of the spelling, type as much of the last name as you know. You may leave out punctuation such as commas or apostrophes.
  • Hurston Zora Neale
  • Hurston Z
  • Oreilly Bill
  • Bernstein Leonard

For authors who use their initials, you may leave out the punctuation, but leave a space between the initials.

  • Fitzgerald f Scott
  • Eliot t s

For authors who use just one name, enter as is:

  • Madonna
  • Prince
Organizations/Group Authors

 

 

Type an organization or group author as it is written. If you are unsure of the spelling, type as much of the name as you know. For organizations or corporations that are best known by their abbreviations, search using the abbreviated form.
  • American Cancer Society
  • Beatles
  • United States Army
  • Smithsonian institution
  • IBM
  • AMA
Limit/Sort Author Search

 

 

Often times your search can retrieve too many items. After you do your search, click on the Limit/Sort button to narrow your results. The most common limits with author searches include format type and sort by year. Click on the drop menus to choose your limits.

Click here for information on all available Limit/Sort options.

Here is an example:
  • Steel, Danielle
Limit to:
Book
Book on Tape
Book on CD
Video
Large Print

If you want a list with the most recent Steel titles at the top, click on the box next to the word Sort.

 

Title Search

What is a Title search?
How to search by Title
  A, AN or THE
  Abbreviations
  Numbers in the Title
  Special characters
  Restricting a Title search
Limit/Sort Title Search

What is a Title search?

A title search looks for the title of a work. It can be the title of a book, magazine, newspaper, album, series, etc.
How to search by Title

 

 

Title Search
Type as much of the title as you know in correct order, starting at the beginning (do not type A, AN, THE). Use upper or lower case letters. Punctuation is optional; you may leave out commas, colons, periods or apostrophes.
 
A, AN or THE

Many titles start with A, AN or THE. These are called initial articles, and it is not necessary to type them in. This includes initial articles in a foreign language.
  • Firm (instead of The Firm)
  • Miserables (instead of Les Miserables)
  • Divine secrets of the ya ya sisterhood (type "the" within the title)
Abbreviations

Only use abbreviations or initials if they are in the actual title. Try searching both ways if you are unsure of the correct form.

  • Dr. Strangelove
  • Doctor Zhivago
Numbers in the Title

Numbers may be spelled out or in numeric form. Try searching both ways if you are unsure.
  • Twenty thousand leagues under the sea
  • 20,000 leagues under the sea

Special characters


Special characters such as +, #, @, % can be included in a title search. You might have to try your search by spelling out the symbols.

  • C++
  • Symphony # 2          Or type Symphony no. 2
Restricting a Title search

Restrict your title search just to the words you enter by using the vertical bar ("|"). This is useful when your title is short or does not contain a subtitle.
  • Wedding| retrieves the title The Wedding rather than Wedding by the sea
  • Cowboys| retrieves the title Cowboys rather than Cowboys don't cry.
Limit/Sort Title Search

 

 

Many times a search will retrieve too many items. After you do your search, click on the Limit/Sort button to narrow your results. The most common limit used with a title search is format type. Click on the drop menus to choose your limits.

Click here for information on all available Limit/Sort options.

Here is an example:

  • Wedding
Limit to:
Book
Book on Tape
Book on CD
Video
Large Print

 

Subject Search

What is a Subject search?
Subject headings
Subject heading for my topic
Search as words
Limit/Sort Subject Search

What is a Subject search?

A subject search looks for works on a topic based on subject headings assigned the Library of Congress. A subject heading gathers all items on a particular topic using uniform terminology. Because they use specific terminology, it is important when performing a subject search to use the proper terms. If you are unsure of a subject heading, try using an ADVANCED KEYWORD SEARCH, where you can type the words you want in any order.
Subject headings

 

 

Subject headings are assigned to topics and names. If you are searching for a person, you have to at least know his or her last name. Use upper or lower case letters. Punctuation is optional; you may leave out commas, colons, periods or apostrophes.
  • Japan history
  • United States history civil war
  • world war 1939 1945
  • Seuss Dr
  • salvation army
  • Austen Jane
What if I don't know the subject heading for my topic?

 

 

If you don't know the subject heading for your topic, try typing what you think it might be. If the search matches a subject heading, it will list all the relevant headings along with hyperlinks to related subjects.
Search as words

 

 

If your subject search does not match the assigned subject heading, the computer will give you the option to Search as words, which performs a keyword search. This should find relevant titles; from there choose a title that interests you. Click on the hyperlink in the catalog record for the assigned subject heading. This will retrieve additional, related materials.
Limit/Sort Subject Search

 

 

Many times a search will retrieve too many items. After you do your search, click on the Limit/Sort button to narrow your results. The most common limit used with a subject search is format type. Click on the drop menus to choose your limits.

Click here for information on all available Limit/Sort options.

Here is an example:
  • world war 1939 1945
Limit to:
Book
Book on Tape
Book on CD
Video
Music CD
DVD
If you want a list with the most recent World War II titles at the top, click on the box next to the word Sort.

 

Author/Title Search

What is an Author/Title search?
How to search by Author/Title
When to search by Author/Title
Limit/Sort

What is an Author/Title search?

An author/title search looks for an author's name in combination with any words from the title.
How to search by Author/Title

 

 

Author - type in as much of the author's name as you know. Type the LAST NAME FIRST. The more of the name you enter, the faster the search. Punctuation is optional; you may leave out commas, colons, periods or apostrophes.

Words in the title - enter as few title words as necessary. If possible, choose the least common words. Order is not important when typing in the title box. Use upper or lower case letters. Punctuation is optional; you may leave out commas, colons, periods or apostrophes.

  • Author: Shakespeare
  • Title: Merry Wives

  •  
  • Author: Taylor James
  • Title: fire and rain

  •  
  • Author: Time-Life
  • Title: war

  •  
  • Author: Wells
  • Title: ya ya
When to search by Author/Title

 

 

If you know the complete author or title of an item, it's usually faster to use the Author Search or Title Search.

There are other advantages to using Author/Title search:

Reports and other generic titles - some organizations or governmental agencies issue documents that are often titled "report" or "bulletin," making it very difficult to find them by just a title search.

  • Author: West Virginia University
  • Title: bulletin

Works with variant titles - Shakepeare's A Merchant of Venice was also published as The Jew of Venice, and the Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice.

  • Author: Shakespeare
  • Title: Venice
Limit/Sort

 

 

There is no limit/sort feature when you search by Author/Title.