Keyword Search

Search Options
Additional Search Rows
Filters
Sorting
Search Checkboxes

The Keyword Search pane lets you search the catalog with one or more search terms. You may also apply a variety of filters and sort the results.

To start a search with the default settings, enter your search terms in the Search Terms text box located near the center of the search form.

Then, select Search, located in the top-right corner. Your search results appear below the search form.

The Keyword Search pane with the Search Terms text box and Search button highlighted

Search Options

There are three options to limit your keyword search: Format, Catalog Field, and Matching.

The Format

Format: Make a selection from the Format dropdown menu to specify what type of item you are seeking. Some options for format include: All Books, All Music, All Videos, Braille, DVD, Large Print Book, and Microform.

Catalog Field: Make a selection from the Catalog Field dropdown menu to specify which bibliographic fields you wish to search. You may select Keyword, Title, Journal Title, Author, Subject, or Series.

Matching: Make a selection from the Matching menu to specify how strictly the search should treat your search terms. You may choose from the following options:

  • Contains: The search will look for items that contain your search terms, regardless of how the terms appear in the record.

  • Does not contain: The search will look for items that do not contain your search terms.
  • Contains phrase: The search will look for items that contain your search terms successively in exact order.

  • Matches exactly: The search will look for items that contain only your search terms in exact order. This option is not available when Keyword is selected in the Catalog Field search option.
  • Starts with: The search will look for items that begin with your search terms, regardless of how the terms appear in the record.

Note

Keyword searches will look through all relevant fields in the bibliographic record, even if they are not displayed in the search results. For example, searching by title also searches the alternate title field, which is not displayed in search results.

Additional Search Rows

To add an additional search row, select the plus sign (+) to the right of the Search Terms text box. A new search row appears below the first.

The new search row will search the same format as that selected on the first search row.

Additional search rows are joined to preceding search rows with the Boolean operators And or Or, which may be selected in the Join with menu to the left of the additional search row.

Staff Catalog page showing two search rows with the plus sign symbol and the Join with menu highlighted.

To delete a search row, select the minus sign (-) to the right of the row you wish to delete.

Filters

Filters let you refine your search beyond the options available in the search row.

Access the filters by selecting the three stacked dots to the right of the search row. The filters appear at the bottom of the search form.

Keyword Search pane with the filters button highlighted

The options available in each filter depend on the library selected in the Library Selector. The available filters are: Item Type, Form, Language, Audience, Video Format, Bibliographic Level, Literary Form, and Shelving Location.

To add a filter, select the desired term from the list in the filter. The selected term will be highlighted and the filter will be applied when you run the search. Use the scroll bar in each filter to view more options.

Tip

Hold CTRL (Windows) or CMD (Mac) to make multiple selections in a single filter.

To remove a filter, select the first term in the filter’s list that begins with All and is followed by the name of the filter. For example, to remove the Form filter, select All Item Forms.

To remove all filters, select the Reset button in the top-right corner of the search form.

To filter by publication year, first select an option from the dropdown menu to the right of "Publication Year is" at the bottom of the search form. You may select Is, Before, After, or Between. If you select Between, an additional text box will appear to the right of the existing text box.

Then, enter the publication year or years in the text box or text boxes to the right of the dropdown menu.

Important

Filters will not be applied until you select Search. If you make any changes to filters after beginning a search, you must select Search again to apply your changes.

Sorting

Search results can be sorted by relevance, title (A to Z or Z to A), author (A to Z or Z to A), publication date (newest to oldest or oldest to newest), or popularity (most to least popular or popularity adjusted relevance). By default, searches are sorted by relevance.

To change the sorting method before your search, select an option from the Sort Results dropdown menu located below the search row.

To change the sorting method of a search you have already started, select an option from the Sort Results dropdown menu, then select Search in the top-right corner to apply your selection.

The Sort Results menu is expanded to show the options

Search Checkboxes

Three checkboxes appear on the Keyword Search pane by default. If the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox is selected on the workstation’s Search Preferences, the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox will also appear.

Depending on the size of your browser window, these checkboxes appear to the right of or below the Sort Results dropdown menu, at the bottom of the search form.

The checkboxes appear in the order listed below. The described behavior applies when the box is checked (selected).

Keyword Search pane with the search boxes highlighted

Important

If you check or uncheck a checkbox after beginning your search, you must select Search again to apply your changes.

Limit to Available: Results will be limited to items with a status of Available or Reshelving.

Group Formats/Editions: Results of the same title with different formats or editions will be combined into a single result.

Results from All Libraries: Results may come from any library in the highest level of your catalog, usually a consortium or system. Checking this box overrides any conflicting workstation Search Preferences and any selection in the Library Selector.

Exclude Electonic Resources: Results will not include any electronic format, such as e-books. If this checkbox is not visible, check the Exclude Electronic Resources checkbox on the Search Preferences page.

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