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Advanced Searching

Use Advanced Search to enter a combination of search categories including keywords, title, author, subject, ISBN, and more. Use the dropdown menu to select the desired categories, enter your term(s) and click Search or hit the Enter key to run your search.

Search for options

  • Choose Include all to search for ALL search terms entered or choose Include any to search for EITHER of the search terms entered.
    • For example, if Include all is selected and you type eagles hawks, you will get results that include both terms.
    • For example, if Include any is selected and you type eagles hawks, you will get results that include both terms or each individual term.
  • Choose Keyword Anywhere to search the entire catalog, or select another option to search a specific part of the catalog, such as Author, Subject, Series, and more.
  • To select words to remove from your search, add NOT between two terms. For example, type eagles NOT rock music to search for records that contain the word eagles but not rock music.
  • To add more search boxes, click the + Add another link.

To remove text from all of the search boxes, and set all menus back to the default, click the Clear link.

Limit search results

  • Select one or more libraries to limit to items that are owned some of all of those libraries. The selected libraries will appear in the box to the right. To remove the limit, click on the red X next to a selection. To limit to Available items, check the box next to Only items currently available for loan or reference.
  • Select one or more languages to limit to items in some or all of those languages. The selected languages will appear in the box to the right. To remove the limit, click on the red X next to a selection.
  • To limit to audience, type of content, or format (book, DVD, and more), choose one option from each dropdown box as desired.
  • Limit by publication date by typing in the earliest date in the first box and the latest date in the second box. For example, to search for items published no earlier than 2008, but no later than 2016, enter 2008 and 2016 in the first and second boxes, respectively. For an open-ended date, leave either the first or second boxes blank. For example, to search for items published no earlier than 2008 until the present, enter 2008 in the first box, but leave the second box blank.

Sort by options

Select an option from the dropdown menu to reorder search results by author, publication date, title, and more.

Need more help?

Printable version of Advanced Searching help (pdf)