University of Kwazulu-Natal

Searching The Catalog Research Catalog User Guide Research Guides

Bonisiwe Shabane
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searching the catalog research catalog user guide research guides

Using the basic search bar on the Research homepage or on the Research Catalog landing page, you can select the following options: For more exact results, use quotation marks. Using the Advanced Search page, you can build a search with any of the following criteria: Once you have done a search, you can use the filters on the lefthand side of the search results to limit your results by: Results are automatically sorted by relevance. You can choose to sort them in the following ways:

Start your search on the catalog home page. Enter search terms where it says Search anything. Search terms can include titles, authors, and subjects (such as people, places, organizations, and topics). As you type, you will see the option to limit your search to Books and Journals, Archives and Manuscripts, or Digital Collections. Basic Search is especially helpful for when you have an Author, Title, or a specific item's LCCN, ISSN, or ISBN known. The catalog will prioritize search results based on how frequently your search input is throughout the record.

While the results will default to a ranking by Relevancy, changing the results sorting and browsing the facets will help you narrow down to better define your search. For more complex searches, use the Advanced Search options to search multiple terms in relation to one another. The catalog will suggest search terms from the Library's records as you type in the Basic Search Box. Clicking on any of these suggestions will execute a search on that term using the search type indicated (Title, Author/Creator, or Subject). To hide suggestions, use the escape key on your keyboard. The Library is continues to fix offensive or harmful language previously used in descriptions of our catalog resources.

(See our policy on Remediation of Harmful Language in Library Metadata for details.) Specifically we're changing subject headings in Library Catalog Search which may be different from subject headings used by other libraries, or... To help you search for catalog records that previously displayed harmful subject headings, here is our list of subject headings that were changed locally (i.e. in the U-M catalog). Descriptions in Library Online Journals Search or Library Databases Search may still contain offensive or harmful subject headings. In Library Catalog Search, you can specify unique data fields to search for your terms, such as an author's name, or a journal title. Click on the pull-down menu to select from these unique fields: Author; Title; Title starts with; Journal/Serial title; Subject; LC Subject starts with; Call Number starts with; Series; or ISSN,ISBN,OCLC.

Image of Library Catalog Search, with pull-down menu options. Generally, for research in non-Roman scripts (e.g. Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, etc.) romanized searches retrieve the most reliable Library Catalog Search results. Note: Most U-M Library catalog records for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials created since the late 1980s contain names and titles in the original non-Roman scripts, and thus can be searched by terms in... The Library of Congress ALA-LC Romanization Tables may help you determine appropriate forms for searching. It may be helpful to search for variations of transliterations, too.

Use non-Roman characters in keyword, author, and titles searches for the most effective results. Use HOLLIS's precision search options to get exactly what you want. “Title” and “author” searches will work well in either Library Catalog or Catalog & Articles. Other Advanced Search options work best in Library Catalog. The metadata in Library Catalog is highly structured and supports complex searching. The metadata in Catalog & Articles varies significantly in quality and structure, and Advanced Search options may not work as expected.

Select “search options” to expand or collapse the search panel. The search panel will automatically collapse after you conduct an Advanced Search. An abbreviated search bar remains available, where you can modify your search terms. You must expand the panel to modify Resource Type, Language, Publication Date, and search scope (e.g. Catalog & Articles). Quick Search can be used for most library catalog searches.

Quick Search allows you to search for a keyword or combination of keywords in all fields of a catalog record. For example, if you search for the keywords women and sports and select Search Everything, your results will include records with both keywords. If you did the same search but selected title search, you would only find records with the keywords in the title. The Search Results screen will display brief information about the item (title, author, call number, publisher, and date published). This is enough information to know if the book is in the library and where it's located. For more information on the book, click the title to see the Brief Record or Full Record.

Advanced Search allows you to narrow your searches by type (ebooks, media, Reference books) and location (e.g., Main Collection, Media DVD, Reference). From the Quick Search window click the Advanced Search link: The Library Catalog can be searched for books, videos, and other items your professors have placed on reserve for your classes. You can check these out at the Circulation Desk. In the Library Catalog click the Reserve Books link, type the Instructor, Course Number, or Course Name in the window and click the appropriate button. The library has many eBooks available to users.

Ebooks are versatile--as well as reading them anywhere you have an Internet connection, you may also search them for keywords and print out sections too. To find eBooks in the library catalog, type your keyword(s) in the Quick Search window (like above), then click the "Search only Electronic Books" box, before clicking the search button. By selecting that option, your search results should only include eBooks. The New York Public Library's Research Catalog contains millions of items from The New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, plus materials from shared collections at Columbia University, Harvard University, and Princeton University. This User Guide to the Research Catalog will help you discover and access the vast research collections available at the New York Public Library.

In this guide, you'll find information on searching the catalog to find research materials of interest, requesting these materials for use at our Research Libraries, and managing your library account online. You can also log into your library account to view and manage your requests and checkouts. NYPL offers a number of other online tools to support your research. For access to these tools, see the quick links below, and visit the Research homepage for more. If you can’t find an item in the library’s catalog, NYPL provides an Interlibrary Loan Service (ILL) for materials held at libraries outside the NYPL system. In addition to Interlibrary Loan, METRO referrals provide courtesy access to many academic, school, public, and special libraries throughout New York City and Westchester County.

If you aren’t sure where to start or which service will be best for you, contact the Library’s virtual reference service, ASK NYPL. To find bibliographies in the catalog, you would begin by using the same search strategies you would use to find books on your topics: a combination of searching by keywords, and browsing by subject... As usual, you should use keywords and subject headings that are both more specific and more general than your exact topic. Remember also to keep your search simple at first--if you retrieve more records than you have time to review, then you can always narrow your search to retrieve fewer records. If you needed primary sources on the history of lynching in the United States, you could search the catalog to see if there were any bibliographies that would guide you to sources. Search for the words "lynching" and "bibliography" in the subject field:

This search retrieves records for 3 bibliographies, all of which list primary sources on lynching in the United States: Use the same strategy for other subjects as well. On Monday, June 30, 2025, the Library of Congress launched its new catalog. The catalog is the main access point for the Library's collections. The new, user-centered interface is powered by modernized infrastructure that will support a new era of services. This change is part of the larger Library Collections Access Platform (LCAP) project, which replaces legacy systems toward the goal of enabling users to seamlessly discover and access all of the Library’s collections materials.

We hope you will enjoy the updated design and new features and ask for your patience as we fine-tune the new platform. If you have questions, feedback, or want to review frequently asked questions about the new catalog, visit the new Catalog Feedback page. Purdue University Libraries is a congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government information. Access to the government information collection is open to the public. In accordance with Purdue policies, all persons have equal access to Purdue University’s educational programs, services and activities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, genetic information, marital status,...

See Purdue’s Nondiscrimination Policy Statement. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these policies, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Ethics and Compliance at vpec@purdue.edu or 765-494-5830.

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