Search Omni to find books, journals, videos and other materials owned by the Library. You can search by keywords, author, title or subject headings.
To find a specific known item, search by title or author. To find books on a topic, either try a subject or keyword search.
Subject Headings vs Keyword Searching
Subject headings allow you to search for resources on a particular author or topic and are often more productive than keyword searches.
Keyword searches work best if you have multiple concepts or topics and need only a few books.
For a comprehensive subject search, search with subject headings as well as keywords.
Searching Omni
Start with a keyword search, but expect to revise it.
Keyword Searching TIPS
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Search Technique
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What It Does
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quotation marks
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Searches for exact phrase
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Truncation *
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Searches for all forms of a word
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Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
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Lets you broaden or narrow your search
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To find books by a particular author/person, search Omni by author:
rousseau jean jacques
To find books about a particular author/person, search Omni by subject heading:
rousseau jean jacques
To find books on a topic, use a keyword search if you do not know the correct subject heading for a topic. Think of the focus (or key) words that describe your topic.
france AND revolution AND (symbolism OR art)
Select useful titles and look at the full record for subject headings.
Symbolism in art--France
France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Art and the revolution
Art--Political aspects--France
Revolutions in art
To find general information on a country:
France--Intellectual life
France--Politics and government--1789-1799
Italy--History
To find a particular time period:
France--History--Restoration--1841-1830
France--History--Louis XIV 1643-1715
Germany--Social conditions--1933--1945
To find an event:
Enlightenment
Treaty of Versailles (1919)
To find an individual:
Voltaire
France--History--Louis XV, 1715-1774
To find primary sources on a topic, look for the subdivision sources following a subject heading or do a keyword search (preferably a guided keyword search by subject):
Spain--History--Sources
Spain AND "civil war" AND sources
