1. Begin by locating the library's OneSearch on the library homepage. OneSearch allows you to search a majority of the library's electronic holdings at one time.
2. Begin with a simple keyword search, When searching for books, it's often best to start with a simple search, as most books are written on more general topics. Example: Books about the Civil Rights Movement will most assuredly address voting rights. Click Search.
3. The next screen is the result screen. On the left margin of the screen are your limits. In order to limit to only books we need to select that box and click update. Note that this limit includes records for both print and electronic books.
Our results are now limited to only print and electronic books.
4. If we need to--meaning our results are too broad, we can limit our search further by adding an additional search. In this case, "voting rights". Click on "Advanced Search" for more search boxes. Be sure to re-limit to books.
5. Review your results. To select the record for a book, click on the title. This will take you to the book's record. If the book is a print book, note the book's call number.
This number is how you locate the book in the library.
Leave out the word "and" when doing a keyword search on SOUTHcat, since this is automatically added if the phrase is not in quotes. Put phrases in quotation marks to search as a phrase. Use ? as a truncation or wildcard symbol in the catalog. Use Advanced Boolean Search for combinations of concepts and phrases.
Keywords:
Library of Congress Subject Headings: