FAU Libraries - Library Online Tutorial

CATALOG
Introduction
Catalog Layout
Keyword
Author
Title
Journals & Magazines
Subject
Advanced

Advanced Search

You can use the Advanced Search option if

you're doing a specific rather than general search
you want to do complex Boolean searches (e.g. and, or, not)
you need materials that
- fall within a certain date range
- are located at a specific library branch
- are in a specific language or format

If you prefer, you can always begin your search using the Advanced mode.

This is a sample of the catalog's Advanced Search layout. (See Figure 30)
Instructions: To view a description, roll your mouse over the arrow (>) and click the boxes that appear.

Figure 30

Doing a search in the Advanced mode is similar to doing a search in the Basic mode. One of the major differences is that you have the option of using up to three different search fields at a time, thus making your search options more expansive.

For example, you can search for Keyword in one field, and Author in the other two fields, all at the same time. (See Figure 31)

Figure 31

Advanced searches also let you search by ISBN or ISSN, if these are the only pieces of information you have for a particular book or journal. (See Figure 32)

Figure 32

If you only know an item's call number (Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal) or SuDoc (Superintendent of Documents), you can look for it in the catalog using the advanced search mode. (See Figure 33) Click here to see more call number search types.

Figure 33

Within these searches you can also do Boolean searches by including "and," "or," or "not" between fields. (See Figure 34)

Figure 34

AND looks for all records that contain at least one occurrence of the search terms. All of the search terms must be present in the record. AND decreases the amount of records retrieved.

OR retrieves records that contain one term or the other, or both. OR increases the number of records retrieved.

NOT excludes from your search those records that contain a particular term or terms. For example, when you do a search for: "cats not dogs," the catalog will look for records containing cats, but not any that have the words dog. If there are records that contain cats and dogs, they will not be retrieved because they contain the word dogs.

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