These tips are for CATQuest but can also be applied to other tools used to search for books such as WorldCAT.
Note: When looking for books in CATQuest always limit the search to the Library Catalog
| What You're looking For | Recommended Search Strategies |
| A book where you know the title or author |
When searching for titles exclude the leading article: Example: Golden age of folk and fairy tales [in title] When searching for books by an author type the last, first: Example: zipes, jack [author/creator] |
| Books about a specific person |
Search for the name as follows: Example: Last, First [in Subject] |
| Books on a topic |
When looking for books on a topic use a mix of keywords and use both broad and specific specific searches: Example: fairy tales AND gender Example: Grimm AND gender |
| Literary Criticism |
Add the the following phrase as one of your keywords in your search: Example: criticism [in Subject] |