The Library's Catalog is a powerful tool for exploring our collection and connecting to My Account for a truly personalized and dynamic Library experience.

 

Searching the Catalog

Whether you're looking for your favorite authors, movies from a particular studio, or materials on a certain topic, a catalog search is a good place to start.

Keyword Searches

Enter any word or phrase in the catalog’s search bar and select the magnifying glass icon button. Use the pull-down menus below the search bar to select a field (i.e. titles, subjects, etc.) and to limit your results to the format you want (i.e. physical book, DVD, playaway, eBook, etc.).

Power Searching

Look for these types of searches in the Search list to the left of the keyword field (or below on mobile devices).

Exact

Exact searching is helpful when you want to search for an exact phrase. Exact searches look for your text exactly as you enter it, in the order you enter it.

  • In the Search list to the left of the keyword field, choose "Exact"
  • Enter the exact search term in the catalog’s search bar and select the magnifying glass icon button
  • Use the pull-down menus below the search bar to select a field (i.e. author, title, subject, series) and to limit your results to the format you want (i.e. physical book, DVD, playaway, eBook, etc.).
See more detailed help on Exact searching.
Advanced

Sometimes one search field isn't enough. Use Advanced searching to combine multiple search fields (i.e. author, title, subject, series, etc.)

  • In the Search block on the left-hand side of a Catalog page, choose "Advanced"
  • Enter your search terms in the catalog’s search boxes, using the pull-down menus to select multiple fields (i.e. author, title, subject, series) and to limit your results to the format you want (i.e. physical book, DVD, playaway, eBook, etc.).
See more detailed help on Advanced searching.
Boolean

Boolean searching is the most complex—but most powerful—way to navigate the Library Catalog. In the Search list to the left of the keyword field, choose Boolean and use operators like AND, OR, and NOT between your search terms.

See more detailed help on Boolean searching.

Browsing the Catalog

It's sometimes helpful to see a list of items in the library catalog—titles, subjects, or authors, for example—in alphabetical order. 

  • In the Search list to the left of the keyword field (or below on mobile devices), choose "Browse"
  • Use the pull-down menu to select a field (i.e. author, title, subject, series)
  • Enter your browsing terms in the catalog’s search box and choose the magnifying glass icon button
  • Browse through the results by selecting "Previous 10 Listings" and "Next 10 Listings"

 

Reviews and Suggestions

The catalog's more than a search tool. Many items in the catalog feature links to reviews and suggestions for similar items.

From your results list:
  • Select an item's title, then scroll down the resulting page to "Suggestions and more" or
  • Choose "More Information" to the right of the item's title, then scrolling down to "Suggestions and more" or
  • Choose other links (e.g., Google Preview) visible below the item's cover image