Search
Basic search
You can find records quickly using the basic search. For example, the basic search can be useful when you have an ISBN or other standard number.
To perform a basic search:
- On the left navigation, click Discover Items.
- From the first list, select a search scope. See Search Scopes below for details.
- Select My Library Holdings if you already have at least one copy of the item.
- Select All WorldCat if you do not own any copies of the item.
- From the second list, select an index. See Indexes below for details.
- In the search field, enter your search terms. The search field will expand to fit your search terms, if needed.
- Click Search or press <Enter>.
Set search preferences for basic searches
Set preferences to better control which search options are selected by default. Most preferences can be overridden as you search.
Preferences will only apply to your user account.
- In the left navigation, select Discover Items.
- Click User Preferences.
- From the Preferences panel, click Searching - Basic.
Note: After setting preferences, click Reset Form to restore original default settings.
From the Bibliographic Records tab:
- For Search Scope(s) for Bibliographic Records:
- Select which search scopes appear in the Scope drop-down list. By default, all search scopes are selected.
- To disable a search scope, deselect it in the Display column.
- Select the default search scope by enabling the Default radio button for the search scope. By default, All WorldCat is selected.
- Determine the order in which the search scopes appear in the Scope drop-down list.
- Click the up arrow to move a search scope up and the down arrow to move a search scope down in the list.
- See Search Scopes.
- Select which search scopes appear in the Scope drop-down list. By default, all search scopes are selected.
- For the first enabled search scope, click the search scope name and then select the following:
- For Default Sorting Method, select how your search results are sorted.
- For Index Display Order:
- Select which indexes appear in the Index drop-down list. By default, all indexes are selected.
- To disable an index, deselect it in the Display column.
- Select the default index by enabling the Default radio button for the index. By default, the following indexes are selected:
- All WorldCat: Keyword
- My Library Holdings: Keyword
- My Group Holdings: Keyword
- Determine the order in which the indexes appear in the Index drop-down list.
- See Indexes.
- Select which indexes appear in the Index drop-down list. By default, all indexes are selected.
- Click Go Back and repeat step 2 for the remaining search scope.
- Click Save.
Search Scopes
When you search for records, you can limit your search to:
Indexes
Select a search index:
For more information on indexes, see Searching WorldCat Indexes.
Advanced search
Expert search
Use the expert search to perform a complete search in a single string. An expert search is made up of a combination of index labels and search terms. With the use of Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), you can search through several indexes at once and apply limits at the same time. Expert searches can be performed in the basic search area or the advanced search window.
To perform an expert search in the basic search area:
- On the left navigation, click Discover Items.
- From the first list, select a search scope. See Search Scopes for details.
- Select My Library Holdings if you already have at least one copy of the item.
- Select All WorldCat if you do not own any copies of the item.
- From the second list, select any index other than OCLC Number. An expert search will not work if this index is selected.
- In the search field, enter your expert search in this format: [Index label][Search terms]
- For example: ti:girl dragon tattoo mt:nsr pb=random house
- When you are performing an expert search with multiple indexes, the Boolean AND is implied. If you are using the Boolean operators OR or NOT, you must type the operator and use capital letters.
- Click Search.