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FAQ
IndexCat -- How to Search

Question:  How do I search IndexCat?
Answer:

Because of differences between series and lack of authority control on names, some trial and error searches may be necessary.

For a first search, use Quick Search and enter your keyword. Searching is not case-sensitive. Quick Search results indicate how many citations may match your search term up to a maximum of 1000 items per series.

When you don’t use double quotes, Quick Search will return anything with medical OR schools in it or anything that contains harvey OR w.

If the 'hits' are too large, you will need to add terms or pick more specific terms. You can also select Advanced Search to combine or limit terms to specific search categories such as subject headings, titles, or author names. In general, for new topics, search as simply as you can. Many times, this is sufficient to give you sufficient clues for additional searches.

If you are searching using modern subject terminology, you may need to think about earlier terminology for the subject or broader terms. For 18th and 19th century concepts, there may be no direct subject heading equivalent. It may also be necessary to search on related disease headings or by symptoms. Spelling of subject headings in Series 1-3 includes 'ae' and 'oe' ligatures: Fœtus; Brain (Fœtal); Gynæcology; Hospitals (Gynæcologic and obstetric). Search these as the letters 'ae' and 'oe'.

See: Quick Search Help: http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov/help/quick.htm
Advanced Search Help: http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov/help/advanced.htm

For more search instructions, see IndexCat Help: http://indexcat.nlm.nih.gov/help/icatcontents.htm

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/icsearch.html

Last reviewed: 28 January 2008
Last updated: 28 January 2008
First published: 11 March 2005
Metadata| Permanence level: Permanence Not Guaranteed