• Check the spelling of the word(s) entered. (Capitalization and punctuation are ignored.)
• Check the spacing between the words. (Punctuation is ignored.)
• Check the drop-down menus and radio buttons to ensure you have correctly selected what you need.
   
  
  • Set the Search: box menu to retrieve terms as:
     
    
    • any of these
    • all of these
    • as a phrase
       
      
  • Highlight the desired field in the In: box:
     
    
    • Keyword Anywhere
    • Title
    • Author Name
    • Subject
    • ISBN-ISSN-LCCN
    • Series
    • Subject Code (072a)
    • Source (Host Item - 773)
    • Language
    • Publisher Type (946A)
    
    
• Check the radio buttons between the rows of text boxes to see if you correctly selected what you need.
  • and
  • or
  • not

• To truncate, enter part of a word followed by a question mark. Enter "genetic?" to retrieve genetic, genetics, genetically, etc. simultaneously.

• Enter as much of the author's name as you know, in any order, and pick "all of these" and "Author Name" from the drop-down menus. For example, if you're looking for a group's documents but aren't sure if it's called American Orchid Society or American Orchid Organization, enter "orchid american" with "all of these" and " Author Name."

• If you know the item's title, enter it "as a phrase" and choose the "Title" field. Otherwise, enter the words you know and choose "all of these" from either the "Title" or "Keyword Anywhere" field.

• Use Keyword Anywhere if you want exact matches on words or truncated words, whether or not the terms are assigned subject headings. Keyword Anywhere results come from anywhere in the bibliographic record: publisher, contents note, meeting name, subject heading, sponsoring organization, etc. Keywords may be more current than subject headings.

• Search in Subject to retrieve items by the standard headings librarians have assigned them according to subject matter, using either the Library of Congress Subject Headings or the NAL Agricultural Thesaurus. Enter multi-word headings as a phrase.

• Records are assigned Subject Category Codes according to the document's broad subject. Set the drop-down menu to Subject Code (072A) and enter a code(s) into the search box. For example, for works about mushroom production, include in your search F110, the Horticultural Crop Production Subject Code, to retrieve on-topic references instead of all items on all aspects of mushrooms.

• To group publications, set the drop-down menu to Publisher Type (946A) and type one of these categories as a phrase:
   
  
  • usda
  • state experiment station
  • state extension service
  • fao [Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN]
  • translation [selected research documents]
  • other us [all U.S. publications not otherwise tagged]
  • non us [published in a foreign country]

• You may set limits either BEFORE entering your first search or AFTER you have results. If you type your first search and select Set limits before retrieving results, the limits will be set but the terms you entered are discarded and must be re-entered.
• On the Search Limits page, select to highlight one line. To highlight multiple items, hold down the control key while selecting each line. Control/click also releases one line at a time. Finally, select the Set Limits button.
• After you set limits, "Search limits are in effect" appears on each New Search and Search Limits screen. Limits apply until released by the Clear Limits button.

• Use the Limit command to restrict search results items written in particular languages. Highlight the desired language(s) on the Search Limits page, then select the Set Limits button.
• Use the Search screen boxes to retrieve additional items whose records include a note about the item's use of a particular language. Type the language name into the Search: box and choose Language (546) from the drop-down box of searchable fields.

• See Keyword Search Help.

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