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Library Search User Guide

A user guide for searching the Emory Libraries Catalog

What is Library Search?

Library Search is the Emory Libraries catalog. Use it to search for materials in all Emory Libraries, including  books, e-books, journals, newspapers, archival collections, media, and more. You can access Library Search directly, or from the Emory Libraries homepage.

Searching for academic articles? Articles and full text book chapters are not included in the Library Search catalog. Use Articles+, eJournals A–Z, or a specific database instead. (What is and is not included in Library Search?)

You do not need to login to use Library Search, but you need to sign into your Emory account to:

  • Access much of the electronic content listed in the search results
  • Make requests
  • Save bookmarks across sessions
  • View and renew borrowed materials 
  • See messages, fines, and fees

Quick Search

From the basic search screen, you can search by keyword, title, author/creator, or subject.

  • General tips:
    • Indicate phrases with quotation marks (" ").
    • You can use with AND, OR, and NOT (must be capitalized) to combine or exclude terms.
  • Keyword - Use this general search to find keywords anywhere in the record. You can also search for identifying numbers such as ISBNs, ISSNs, OCLC numbers, and catalog IDs (MMSIDS).
    • Reagan AND "cold war"
    • 1476-4687
    • cloning NOT human
  • Author/creator - Search for your keyword(s) in fields that contain author information. (Note that individual chapter authors are not covered by this search; however, if the record contains a Table of Contents note, a regular keyword search will find these authors.)
    • William Shakespeare
    • "Stephenson, Neal"
  • Title - Search for your keyword(s) in fields that contain title information.
    • France AND "economic policy"
    • Slaughterhouse-five
  • Subject - Search for your keyword(s) in the subject fields. 
    • depression AND psychotherapy
    • reconstruction Georgia

From the results page, you can use the filters on the left to narrow you search. For example you can limit to Rose Library (Library filter), online content (Access filter), or journals (Resource Type filter). You can also use these filters first before entering your search terms.