HOW TO: CATALOG SEARCHING TIPS

OHSU Library

CATALOG SEARCHING TIPS

EXAMPLES

AUTHOR SEARCHING

AUTHOR
Type last name first.
If you know the first name type that or the initial in as well.
You may also type the name of an organization or governmental body.
If you type the name in directly, such as "Peter Kohler" and nothing is found, you will be asked if you want to reverse the names and search again.
Try searching variant forms for names beginning with De, De La, Von, etc.

sabiston
kohler peter
smith j
Oregon Health & Science
University

AUTHOR/TITLE SEARCHING

AUTHOR/TITLE
If you know the author and at least part of the title, you can use this.
You must have the author's last name, but you can use any word from the title.

hellier and dentist retrieves the book
Disease, Drugs and the Dentist
by Hope and Hellier

TITLE SEARCHING

TITLE
The order of the title words must be exact.
The first few words of the title is usually enough.
Initial words (a, the) are ignored.
Check alternative spellings, e.g. pediatrics, paediatrics.
You can search for journal titles here but using the Journal Title search automatically limits your search to journals.
Add a vertical bar ( | ) after a title to retrieve only that title.

understanding cancer
pediatrics
paediatrics
biochemistry|

JOURNAL SEARCHING

JOURNAL
If you type in the entire title, you must type all the words, other than the initial words "a", "the", etc.
You can type in the first few words of the title to get a list of journals.
You can type in the NLM title abbreviation.
If the library also has the electronic version of the journal, you can often link directly to that journal.
Click on "Latest Received" to see the issues the have been recently received.
Using this feature automatically eliminates books from the results.

academic emergency medicine
journal of the american
acad emerg med

See other side for more search tips

SUBJECT SEARCHING

SUBJECT
The order of words matters.
MeSH headings cannot be "exploded" in the catalog the way they can be in MEDLINE, so make sure you are using the most specific MeSH term.
If you don't know the exact subject heading, do a keyword search with the term limited to the subject field, or click on the subject headings in a specific record to get other items with the heading.
Sometimes using keywords will retrieve more items when a subject search does not produce many items.

neoplasms nerve tissue not
nerve tissue neoplasms
acne not skin diseases
neoplasms not cancer

KEYWORD SEARCHING

ADJACENCY
The order of words matters.
Multiple words are searched together as one phrase.
For different results, use and between each word or phrase.

hay fever
oregon and hospital
electronic journal and brain

TRUNCATION
Words may be internally or right-hand truncated using an asterisk *.
Use double asterisks ** for more than 5 characters.

wom*n and physician*
immun** and acquired

BOOLEAN
OPERATORS
Use and or or to specify multiple words in any field, any order.
Use and not to exclude words.
Use parentheses to group words when using multiple operators.

cancer or neoplasm*
(oregon or washington)
or (portland and not maine)

PROXIMITY
Use near to specify words close to each other, in any order.
Use within # to specify words within a set range of each other. Symbol # may stand for any number.

oregon near institute
multnomah within 5 hospital

FIELDS
Specify fields to search, using field abbreviation.
Fields available for this database are
a: (author)
t: (title)
s: (subject)
n: (note.)

a:fletcher and t:morals
a:astley and a:hellier
s:oregon and (t:moral* or s:ethics)

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Last updated September 19, 2008 by the OHSU Library Web Managers. Please send comments, questions, and reports of problems through the Library's customer support form.

		EXAMPLES
AUTHOR SEARCHING
AUTHOR	Type last name first. If you know the first name type that or the initial in as well. You may also type the name of an organization or governmental body. If you type the name in directly, such as "Peter Kohler" and nothing is found, you will be asked if you want to reverse the names and search again. Try searching variant forms for names beginning with De, De La, Von, etc.	sabiston kohler peter smith j Oregon Health & Science University
AUTHOR/TITLE SEARCHING
AUTHOR/TITLE	If you know the author and at least part of the title, you can use this. You must have the author's last name, but you can use any word from the title.	hellier and dentist retrieves the book Disease, Drugs and the Dentist by Hope and Hellier
TITLE SEARCHING
TITLE	The order of the title words must be exact. The first few words of the title is usually enough. Initial words (a, the) are ignored. Check alternative spellings, e.g. pediatrics, paediatrics. You can search for journal titles here but using the Journal Title search automatically limits your search to journals. Add a vertical bar ( \| ) after a title to retrieve only that title.	understanding cancer pediatrics paediatrics biochemistry\|
JOURNAL SEARCHING
JOURNAL	If you type in the entire title, you must type all the words, other than the initial words "a", "the", etc. You can type in the first few words of the title to get a list of journals. You can type in the NLM title abbreviation. If the library also has the electronic version of the journal, you can often link directly to that journal. Click on "Latest Received" to see the issues the have been recently received. Using this feature automatically eliminates books from the results.	academic emergency medicine journal of the american acad emerg med
See other side for more search tips

SUBJECT SEARCHING
SUBJECT	The order of words matters. MeSH headings cannot be "exploded" in the catalog the way they can be in MEDLINE, so make sure you are using the most specific MeSH term. If you don't know the exact subject heading, do a keyword search with the term limited to the subject field, or click on the subject headings in a specific record to get other items with the heading. Sometimes using keywords will retrieve more items when a subject search does not produce many items.	neoplasms nerve tissue not nerve tissue neoplasms acne not skin diseases neoplasms not cancer
KEYWORD SEARCHING
ADJACENCY	The order of words matters. Multiple words are searched together as one phrase. For different results, use and between each word or phrase.	hay fever oregon and hospital electronic journal and brain
TRUNCATION	Words may be internally or right-hand truncated using an asterisk . Use double asterisks * for more than 5 characters.	womn and physician immun** and acquired
BOOLEAN OPERATORS	Use and or or to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use and not to exclude words. Use parentheses to group words when using multiple operators.	cancer or neoplasm* (oregon or washington) or (portland and not maine)
PROXIMITY	Use near to specify words close to each other, in any order. Use within # to specify words within a set range of each other. Symbol # may stand for any number.	oregon near institute multnomah within 5 hospital
FIELDS	Specify fields to search, using field abbreviation. Fields available for this database are a: (author) t: (title) s: (subject) n: (note.)	a:fletcher and t:morals a:astley and a:hellier s:oregon and (t:moral* or s:ethics)