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Search Tips

An introduction to searching the library catalog, discover (articles, books & more), or course reserves

What is in the Library Catalog

The Library Catalog is a complete list of the books, ebooks, DVDs, and other resources that comprise the library's home collection.  Additionally, the catalog includes records for each database or journal to which we subscribe.

Students, faculty, staff, and guests can find the Library Catalog on The Eugene McDermott Library's homepage.

Here's a brief guide to searching and finding items in the Library Catalog: 

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search of the Library Catalog provides a search of library holdings with more guidance in the form of dropdown menu options such as keywords, title, author/creator, (Library of Congress) subject, ISBN, ISSN and more.

Browse Search

The Browse Search allows for a more specialized search such as by Library of Congress call number, SUDOC call number (a form of call number for government documents), and other specialty call numbers.

A Browse Search by subject, title, or author is useful for displaying a list of subjects, titles, or authors that fall under the particular phrase or term searched. See the example below of a Browse by author search on Dick, Philip K.:

Using Refining Tools

Upon getting your initial list of results, use the Refine My Results filters on the left side of the screen to refine your results by Resource Type (books, journals, media, etc.), Availability ("Available in the Library" for physical items or "Available Online" for online access), Date (by year), Library Collections (government documents, Main Stacks books, ebooks and so on), and more. Use Refine My Results to narrow within your search results in order to produce a more manageable and relevant list of matches for your search terms.