Author Search
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What is an Author search?
Single Authors
Organizations/Group Authors
Limit/Sort Author Search
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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.
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Single Authors |
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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:
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Organizations/Group
Authors |
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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
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Limit/Sort
Author Search |
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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: |
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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 |
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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 |
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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.
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Limit/Sort Title Search |
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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: |
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Limit to:
Book
Book on Tape
Book on CD
Video
Large Print |
Subject Search
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What is a Subject search?
Subject headings
Subject heading for my topic
Search as words
Limit/Sort Subject Search |
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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.
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Subject headings |
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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
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What if I don't know the subject heading for my topic? |
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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 |
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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.
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Limit/Sort Subject Search |
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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: |
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Limit to:
Book
Book on Tape
Book on CD
Video
Music CD
DVD
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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
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What is an Author/Title search?
How to search by Author/Title
When to search by Author/Title
Limit/Sort |
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What is an Author/Title search?
An author/title search looks for an author's name in combination with any words
from the title.
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How to search by Author/Title |
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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
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When to search by Author/Title |
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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
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Limit/Sort |
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There is no limit/sort feature when you search by Author/Title. |