Other Keyword Searches

In Lesson 3, you learned about the General Keyword Index.  The catalog offers several other keyword indexes that might, at one point or another, suit your needs better than General Keyword. 

In this lesson we will discuss the following indexes:

• Title Keyword

• Author Keyword

• Subject Keyword

• Series Keyword

• Name Keyword

Title Keyword  

• The Title Keyword index allows you to search for the title of a book in the title field.  This index also allows you to search the contents notes field for the title of a short story or play.

• To use the Title Keyword index, type words from the title of the book into the text box and click on the arrow button.  
  

• Any words from the title may be used in any order.   It is not necessary to use A or The at the beginning of a title.
  

• An example of a Title Keyword search for the book Native Son can be seen below.  You may use upper or lower case letters.  

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• After you have entered your search terms and clicked on the arrow button, the catalog will open the Search Results page. You will see a list of books that best match the search terms you entered.  
  
  Because this is a keyword search, any records in the catalog containing  the words native and son will be listed.  You will need to review the list and select the books that are most useful to you.  The Title Alphabetical index allows you to perform a more precise search for the title of a book.  This index will be discussed later in this tutorial.
  
  
• A portion of the Search Results page for the search native son appears below.  To see the Full Record, click on the title of the book.
  

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Author Keyword

• The Author Keyword index allows you to search for the author of a book in the author field.

• To use the Author Keyword index, type the name of the author into the text box and click on the Go button. 
  

• Any words from the author's name may be used in any order. 

• An example of a Author Keyword search for the author Amy Tan can be seen below.  You may use upper or lower case letters. 

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• After you have entered your search terms and clicked on the Go button, the catalog will open the Search Results page and display a list of books that best match the search terms you entered.  
  
  Because this is a keyword search, any records in the catalog containing  the words amy and tan will be listed.  You will need to review the list and select the books that are most useful to you.  The Author Alphabetical index allows you to perform a more precise search for the author of a book.  This index will be discussed later in this tutorial. 
  
  
• A portion of the Search Results page for the search amy tan appears below.  To see the Full Record, click on the title of the book.

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Subject Keyword

• When you do a Subject Keyword search, you are searching in the subject field within the book record. This field contains Library of Congress Subject Headings that have been assigned to the book by experts at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. 
  
  
• The advantage of searching by Library of Congress Subject Heading, is that it can result in a more precise result list with fewer "false hits".  The disadvantage is that you must know what subject heading is used for your topic, or your search may return zero results.   If you have any trouble using this index, please contact a librarian for help.
  
  
• To use the Subject Keyword index, type keywords from the appropriate Library of Congress Subject Heading into the text box and click on the Go button.
   
  
• Any words in the Library of Congress Subject Heading may be entered in any order. 
  
  
• An example of a Subject Keyword search for domestic architecture can be seen below.  You may use upper or lower case letters. 

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• After you have entered your search terms and clicked on the Go button, the catalog will open the Search Results page and display a list of books that best match the search terms you entered.  
  
  Because this is a keyword search, any records in the catalog containing  the words domestic and architecture will be listed.  You will need to review the list and select the books that are most useful to you.  The Subject Alphabetical index allows you to perform a more precise search using Library of Congress Subject Headings.  This index will be discussed later in this tutorial.
  
  
• A portion of the Search Results page for the search domestic architecture appears below.  To see the Full Record, click on the title of the book.

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Series Keyword

• The Series Keyword index allows you to search for a book in a series.

• To use the Series Keyword index, type the name of the author into the text box and click on the Go button.

• Any words from the author's name may be used in any order.

• An example of a Series Keyword search for the series opposing viewpoints can be seen below.  You may use upper or lower case letters. 

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• After you have entered your search terms and clicked on the Go button, the catalog will open the Search Results page and display a list of books that best match the search terms you entered.   Because this is a keyword search, any records in the catalog containing  the words opposing and viewpoints will be listed.  You will need to review the list and select the books that are most useful to you.
  
  
• A portion of the Search Results page for the search opposing viewpoints appears below.  To see the Full Record, click on the title of the book that interests you.

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Name Keyword

• The Name Keyword index searches for books by an author but not for books about an author.  For more information about this index, see a librarian.