Library of Congress Online Catalog: Help Pages

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  SEARCHING:
  Basic Search Overview
  Keyword Searches:
  - Keyword
  - Title Keyword
  - Author/Creator
  - Subject Keyword
  - Name/Title
  - Series/Uniform Title
  Other Searches:
  - Expert Search
  - Title Begins With
  - Author/Creator Browse
  - Subject Browse
  - Call No. Browse (LC)
  - Call No. Browse (Other)
  - Number Search
  - Author Sorted by Title
  Guided Search


  Limiting Searches
  Search History
  Boolean Searching

  INDEX CODES:
  for Guided Searches
  for Expert Searches

  SEARCH RESULTS:
  Brief Record
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  Full Record
  MARC Tags


  Headings List
  Titles List
  Titles List (Keyword)
  References/Scope Notes
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  OTHER TOPICS:
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Author/Creator Keyword

Use Author/Creator Keyword to search for any word (in any order) within an established name heading. Name headings include persons, corporate bodies and meetings resposible for the creation of a work.

Author/Creator Keyword
finds personal names, places and corporate bodies as creators of a work.
Author/Creator Keyword screen
  • Personal authors and creators include editors, performers, photographers, artists, etc.
  • Group authors and creators include corporate entities, government bodies, conferences, etc.

** If you are looking for materials about someone (real or fictional), or about a government body, company, or organization, use a Subject search option.

NOTE:
Search limits are NOT available.
Boolean AND operator is automatic.

Basic Search Examples:

Name type . . . Search Example . . .
personal name john steinbeck
(returns all name headings containing both words)
personal name walter mare
(returns all name headings containing both words)
government agency "congressional budget office"
(returns all headings with the exact phrase above)
organization battelle institute
(returns all corporate names containing both words)
company american telephone telegraph
(returns all company names containing both words)
conference creative writing conference
(returns all conferences containing all three words)

Search Tips:

  • Enter words or phrases in any order.
  • All words will be searched (including articles and conjunctions in all languages, such as and, or, not, the, a, la, das, etc.).
  • Enclose words in " " (quotation marks) to retrieve the exact phrase (e.g., "camera raw")
  • Use a ? (question mark) to replace multiple characters either inside or at the end of a search term (e.g., ecumen? will retrieve ecumenical, ecumenism, etc.).
  • Use a % (percent sign) to replace a single character, either inside or at the end of a search term (e.g., col%r will retrieve color, coler and colur, but not colour).
  • Search results are returned as a Headings List. Each row of the Headings List display lists a heading with the number of title hits matching that heading. Selecting the heading will display a Titles List for all titles matching that heading.
Alternative Search Options:

If you know the exact order of an author/creator (starting with the left-most word), you may find the Author/Creator Browse (enter last name first) search to be more effective.

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

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July 15, 2008