Hints and tips on searching the catalogue more effectively

• In the QUICK SEARCH screen you can search by author, title, keyword, or any combination of these.
• Always check that you have searched the correct library. The best way to ensure this is to develop the habit of logging on, and setting your preferences the first time you do so
  
• When your search produces a list, remember to click on each title to get more detail: where the item is located, if it's currently on the shelves, how long you can borrow it for, when it was published, etc.
• You can change the order of the list from the SORT menu at the top
• You can change the way it looks from the RESULT FORMAT menu - useful if you want to print it out, or copy and paste into a Word document
• remember to note the classification or Dewey number in the final column - this is the only way to find the item on the shelf!
• if you cannot find something which is supposed to be 'ON SHELF', check that it is not in another library by looking at the information under COLLECTION; and that it is not kept at the desk, or in the stack, by looking at the information under LOCATION.
• if you cannot find what you are looking for in the catalogue, PLEASE ASK a librarian for help!

• always remember to put the surname first [example: Grisham John]
• if it is an unusual surname, it may not be necessary to include the first name as well [example: Aboulafia]
• you can put either the initial(s) or the first name after the surname [examples: Rowling J K, Jacques Brian, Steinbeck J]. No full stops are used after initials.
• if you are not sure how to spell the author's name, just type the start of the name - but be prepared to get a long list to look through [example: if you type 'ham' you would get authors called Hamley, Hamilton, Hammett, Hammond, etc]
• if you want to search for an item written by two people, put a comma between the two names [example: Lister, Renshaw]
• if you are unsure of an author's name, you can always BROWSE the complete list of those in the catalogue

TITLE SEARCH

• choose one or two significant words from the title - there is no need to type the whole thing, as this will only mean the search takes longer.
• try and choose less common words. [example: 'potter goblet' is better than 'harry potter' if you want to find 'Harry Potter and the goblet of fire']
• DON'T use words like and, the, of, in... far too many titles have those words in!
• it does not matter what order you put the words in
• if you get too long a list with only one or two title words, add another
• there is no need to use any punctuation or 'and' betwen the words - just type them with a space in between and it will look for those items with ALL the words in the title. Do not use quotes.
• if you are not sure how to spell a word, use the WILDCARD
• if you are unsure of a title word, you can always BROWSE the complete list of those used in the catalogue

KEYWORD SEARCH

• use this when you want to search for information by SUBJECT
• try and be as specific as possible, [example: 'impressionism' rather than 'art']
• use nouns rather than adjectives [example: 'ethics' rather than 'ethical']
• use plurals rather than singulars [example: astronomers rather than astronomer]
• enclose phrases in inverted commas [example: "middle ages", "global warming"]
• use more than one keyword to make your search as precise as possible [example: "civil war" Spain, history medicine]. There should just be a space separating keywords/phrases, no punctuation or other words]
• always use the NAME of country - only use the adjective when you mean the language [example: art France, not art French]
• for information about a person type in the last name only [example: Nightingale, Churchill]
• if you are not sure how to spell a word, use the WILDCARD
• a number of abbreviations are used as keywords, some more obvious that others: USA, UK, WW1, WW2 (for World War 1 or 2), C for the centuries (e.g. 18C for eighteenth century)
• if you are unsure of a keyword, you can always BROWSE the complete list of those used in the catalogue
• if you are unsuccessful in finding information on a subject by searching with a keyword, try using these keywords in the title searching field

The ADVANCED SEARCH screen offers you other searching possibilities, such as classification, material type and date of publication. [MORE DETAIL]

BROWSING LISTS

Next to each search box is a link saying BROWSE... this lets you see a complete list of all the authors, title words and keywords in the catalogue. You can click ADD to add the term to your search, or simply click the term itself to launch a search. Bear in mind that doing this will run a search of all the library catalogues.

WILDCARDS

A wildcard is an asterisk [*], and it can stand for any letter or letters. It is a useful thing to use when searching by title or keyword:

• if you are not sure how to spell a word, or which form of spelling has been used [example: medi* will find medieval, ency* will find encyclopedias]
• if you think there might be variant titles or keywords, all on the same subject [example: compu* will find computers, computing, computation etc]
• you can use it anywhere - before letters, in between them, or after them [example: *cyc* will find recycling, encyclopedias, cycles, cycling etc]

Have you found this useful? Are there any questions you still have? Let us know at library@dulwich.org.uk

October 2003