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FSP 164-21 The Stories Behind Our Food.: Find Books

How Do I Find Books?

Start at the Library home page, where you can search using Keywords, Author or Title. Alternatively, you can click on More Search Options or Find Books, Media - both options will bring you to the TCNJ Library Catalog. The Catalog lists most materials the library owns including books, magazines and journals (but not the articles in them), videos, audio recordings, and more. The Library Catalog has two main search options: Basic Search and Advanced Search

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.

    • TCNJ Library Catalog

    Find books and videos in the Library Online Catalog.

    Search tips :

    • Click "More Search Options" to go beyond a quick search from library homepage
    • Search by boolean keyword, combining different concepts using and 
      • organics AND sustainability
    • Use Limits to narrow your results to a specific format or collection, i.e. Reference Collection, Videos
    • Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
      • "food labeling"
    • Try Subject Heading Browse in the catalog (or click on subject headings within records).
    • For contents and more info, click Full Record Button.

    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: