Library of Congress Online Catalog: Help Pages

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  SEARCHING:
  Basic Searching
  - Title
  - Author/Creator Browse
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  - Keyword
  - Command Keyword
  - Call No. Browse (LC)
  - Call No. Browse (Other)
  - LCCN-ISBN-ISSN
  - Series/Uniform Title
  - Author/Creator by Title
  Guided Searching


  Limiting Searches
  Search History
  Boolean Searching

  INDEX CODES:
  for Guided Searches
  for Command Keyword

  SEARCH RESULTS:
  Brief Record
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  Full Record
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  Headings List
  Titles List
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A Basic Search - Title retrieves materials by title in the exact word order of the search.
Image of the Search Type window

Basic Search - Title

TITLE SEARCHES FIND...

  • main title of a single work (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings)
  • main title of a periodical or serial (New York Times, Journal of Food Quality) and,
  • title of works in a series (Time-Life Student Library)

NOTE:
Search limits
are available.
Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) are not available.

Title Search Examples:

To retrieve the Title . . . You can enter. . .
The Name of the Rose name of the rose
Flatland: a romance of many dimensions flatland
Symphony, no. 39, in E flat, K. 543. symphony no 39 in e flat
2001 : a space odyssey. 2001 a space
"Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" : adventures of a curious character surely youre joking
Dictionary of Literary Biography dictionary of literary biography
¿Cómo es la luna? como es la luna

Search Tips:

  • Always omit initial articles (a, an, the, das, el, la, etc.) in any language.

  • Always omit initial punctuation in any language (e.g., quotation marks, ¿). Also, replace other punctuation with a space. (Exception: drop apostrophes and close up the space.) See examples, above.

  • If searching the full title does not produce satisfactory results, enter only the first few words of the title.
    • crito (for Crito; a Socratic dialogue or Crito; or, A dialogue on beauty )
    • dr jekyll (for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Dr. Jekyll agus Mr. Hyde)
    • new directions in ed (for New directions in education)
    • what do you care what (for What do YOU care what other people think?)

  • Consider alternate forms of title words:
    • initials, acronyms, abbreviations (e.g., us or united states)
    • numbers (e.g., 10 or ten)
    • one word or two (e.g., healthcare or health care)
    • spelling variations (e.g., color or colour)
    • similar concepts (e.g., british or english)
    • word variations (e.g., email or e-mail)

  • Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve catalog records that begin with the words or phrases you enter. Do not use the question mark (?) for truncation.

Alternative Search Options:

When the exact title word order is not known, try either a Command Keyword or a Guided Search using the words of the title you do know with Boolean operators (e.g., yearbook AND anthropology).

Use the browser's [Back] button to resume searching.

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November 17, 2005