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WRI 102: The Digital Domain: Find Books

How Do I Find Books?

Start at the Library home page, scroll down and click Books & Media, then type words related to your topic into the search box on the next page. The Books & Media search tool lists most materials the library owns including books, videos, audio recordings, and more.

Library research tutorial

For more help on finding books in Gitenstein Library, take a look at the "Find Books" module of the library research tutorial. It only takes about 15 minutes to work through this and it could save you hours in the long term!

Basic Search on Library Catalog

Search by Keyword, Title, Author, Boolean Keyword, Title (keyword or phrase), Author/Composer, Subject Heading or Call Number.

  • Step 1. Type your search term into the "Search for" search box.
  • Step 2. Select the type of search you want to perform with the "Search in" drop down menu.
  • Step 3. Click on the "Search" button to perform your search.

 Basic Search Hints

  • In keyword searches, enclose phrases (words you want searched next to each other in a specified order) in double quotation marks (" "). For example, a search for "higher education" enclosed in double quotes finds only occurrences of the two words next to each other in that order.
  • In keyword searches, find multiple forms of a word by typing a question mark (?) at the end the part of the word that remains the same in any form of the word. For example, typing "educat?" finds "educator," "educators," "educate," "educated," and "education."
  • Don't include an initial article ("the," "a," or "an") at the beginning of a title.
  • Type last name first for people as authors or subjects, e.g. Clinton Bill.
  • If a subject or keyword search yields no results, try a synonym of the word or phrase you searched initially. For example, try searching "films" or "motion pictures" if a search for "movies" yields no results.

    • LC Subject Headings

    Try using the following Subject Headings in the library's Books & Media search:

     

    Superheroes

    Superheroes
    Superheroes--Comic book, strips, etc.
    Superheroes--Comic book, strips, etc.--History and Criticism
    Superhero film
    Superheroes in literature
    Superheroes-- Juvenile fiction
    Superheroes--United States

     

     

    Comic books, strips, etc.

    Comic books, strips, etc.--Dictionaries

    Comic books, strips, etc.-Encyclopedias

    Comic books, strips ,etc.--History and Criticism

    Comic books, strips,etc.--In Advertising

     

     

    Popular Culture

     
    Popular Culture--United States
    Popular Culture--United States Bibliography
    Popular Culture--United States--Case Studies
    Popular Culture--United States--Congresses
    Popular Culture--United States--Dictionaries
    Popular Culture--United States--Encyclopedias
    Popular Culture--United States--History

     

     

    Advanced Search on Library Catalog

    Search any words or phrases using drop-down menus that help you to construct your search in the library's Books & Media search.

    • Step 1. If using Search Limits, set them before you enter your search terms by selecting "set more limits."
    • Step 2. Enter your keyword(s) or phrase in one or more of the "Search for:" dialog boxes.
    • Step 3. Click the drop-down arrow next to "all of these" to choose how to treat the keyword(s) you have entered. Selecting "all of these" will find records containing all of the keywords, regardless of their order. (This is the same as using the Boolean operator "and.") "Any of these" will find records containing any of the keywords, regardless of their order. (This is the same as using the Boolean operator "or.")  "As a phrase" will find records which contain keywords in the exact order they appear in the search box.
    • Step 4. Select a specific field (optional) from the Search in: drop-down list.
    • Step 5. If you have entered search terms in more than one Search for: box, select a Boolean operator (and, or, not) to connect the search terms in the separate boxes.
    • Step 6. Click on the "Search" button to perform your search.

     Guided Search Hints

    • Select "Set More Limits" before you enter your search terms if you choose to limit your search by location, type of material, etc.
    • Use a question mark (?) at the end of a root word to truncate. For example, "parent?" finds "parent," "parents," "parenting," "parenthood," etc.
    • Do not use quotation marks around phrases.

    Other Library Catalogs

    Can't find it @ TCNJ?  Search Worldcat to see if another library has it. You can then submit an interlibrary loan request to get the item from another library.

    Or search the catalogs of area libraries: