Simple Search

A simple search is most generally a keyword search, which searches words used in the records in the catalog. But it can also be limited to a single field such as:

• Subject
• Title
• Author
• Call number
• ISBN/ISSN

Advanced Search

To access, click Advanced Search located in the panel Books, Ebooks, and Media on the Library homepage.

Use the first dropdown box in each row to select the field in which the search will be conducted:

• Any field (keyword)
• Author
• Title
• Subject
• Note

Use the second dropdown box in each row to select the desired boolean operator: AND for all the search terms, OR for any of them, and AND NOT for none of them.

More Search Fields

To use a search field not available in the dropdown boxes, select a search option in the right menu:

• Series title
• Subject-Medical (NLM)
• LCCN (Library of Congress control number)
• OCLC number (a unique accession number used to identify an item in WorldCat)

Filter & Sort Results

In the Advanced Search, results may be limited to location, material type (format), language, year, and publisher. They may also be sorted by relevance, date, and title.

What is the Library Catalog?

• A searchable online index, often called a database, of items owned by the ORU Library.
• Library buzzword for the online public access catalog: OPAC

What the Library Catalog indexes

• Print and electronic (online) books
• Periodicals (journals, magazines, and newspapers) in paper, microform, and CD-ROM formats
• Audiovisual materials including DVDs, audiobooks, and other sound recordings
• Scores, maps, and more

What the Library Catalog does NOT index

• Most electronic journals. To find a journal title in any format, search Journal Finder +.
• Individual journal articles or book chapters. To search for articles, try EagleSearch.
• Material held in other libraries. To locate and request material not owned by ORU, use WorldCat.

• Click the Book Cart button to the right of each item you want to save.
• After making your selections, click the "View Saved" button at the top of the results page.
• On the "Saved Records" page, click the appropriate button to view, export, email, request, or save the records to a list.
• When prompted, fill in your first and last name and the barcode from your ORU ID to make requests or save records to a list.

• To expand a search to include items not held by ORU, try searching WorldCat to find items to borrow from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan.
• To find journal articles, which are not indexed in the Library Catalog, use EagleSearch or one or a combination of the Library's databases.
• To find individual chapters or essays in selected religion book titles, use the ATLA Religion Database with ATLA Serials Plus.

Wildcards, Boolean Operators & Phrase searching

These features are all supported in both the Simple and Advanced Search modules of the catalog.

Wildcards

• Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk (*) in place of other characters.
  • Example: Christian*
• The * wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.
  • Example: Spirit-empower* Christian*
• Use the ? wildcard to replace a single character anywhere within a word.
  • Example: wom?n

Boolean Operators

• Use AND to require ALL terms in a search.
  • Example: mission* AND evangel*
• Use OR to require ANY of the terms.
  • Example: charismatic OR Pentecost* OR empower*
• Use parentheses to group terms so that operations will occur first within sets.
  • Example: (charism* OR gift*) AND (healing OR exorcism)
  • Compare: (charism* OR gift*) AND (healing AND exorcism)
• Use AND NOT to exclude words.
  • Example: (charismatic OR Pentecost*) AND NOT empower*

Phrase searching

• Use quotation marks to search for a phrase.
  • Example: "Spirit hermeneutics"
• Truncation typically does NOT work with phrase searching in the library catalog.
  • Do NOT use: "Spirit hermeneutic*"
  • Use instead: oSpirit AND hermeneutic*