How to Search the Library Catalog

Boolean Operators and Relative Operators

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Boolean Operators

The Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT logically combine search terms:

AND - A record must match both the term before and the term after the operator to be included in the search results.

Example:
AU=isaac asimov AND TI=planets
Finds only the items written by Isaac Asimov that have the word planets in the title.

OR - A record can match either the term before or the term after the operator, or both, to be included in the search results.

Example:
AU=isaac asimov OR TI=planets
Finds all items written by Isaac Asimov and all items with the word planets in the title by any author, including Asimov.

NOT - A record must match the term before the operator, but not the term after the operator, to be included in the search results.

Example:
AU=isaac asimov NOT TI=planets
Finds only those items written by Isaac Asimov that do not have the word planets in the title.

You may build a more complex query using the Boolean operators. When using multiple operators in the same query, use parentheses to group the operations to be performed.

Note:
To search for text that includes an operator as part of the search text, you must put the text in quotation marks. For example, to find the title Bud, Not Buddy, you type this command: TI = "bud not buddy"

Relative Operators