Out of the Stacks and Into the Catalog: Secrets to Search Fields and Operators

By Kelli Dover, Library Assistant

If your library catalog searches for items in the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) collections give you too few or too many results, or you are not finding exactly what you want, this post will help you utilize Boolean operators and special characters to maximize your search efforts.

To perform any catalog search, you will need to open the TSLAC Library Catalog search home page. (If you’re not sure how to get there, see our previous post in this series.) This article will focus on the search buttons (circled in red below). Future posts will address the radio buttons (keyword, browse, exact) and library options on the drop-down menu. For the purposes of this post, we will select the radio button for “keyword” and choose “*TX State Library & Archives Comm” for the library.  You are now ready to search the catalog in keyword mode.

library catalog search screen

On the search home page, there are three radio buttons to choose from, a library drop-down box and six different buttons indicating search type.

After typing in your search terms, click on one of the blue buttons (Words or Phrase, Author, Title, Subject, Series, and Periodical Title) to run a specific search type. It is important to understand what kinds of results each search will yield.

Words or Phrase: Results include your search terms as found anywhere in the catalog record. If you type in your search terms and press enter, this is the default search type used. Below is an example of a catalog record and all of the fields that may include your search term.

Author: Results include your search terms that are found only within the author fields. This can include corporate authors and additional authors. You can use first name, last name, or initials. Including a last name will provide the best results.

Title: Search mechanism limits the options to only the title fields in the catalog record. Note: Periodical Title is a separate search.

Subject: Results will include your search terms as found in the subject index. If you are not looking for a specific item, this search will pull up a range of titles that may be related to your research area of interest. While it may not include every item in our collection on the subject, it will give you an idea of the types of publications in our collection. Clicking on a subject in the catalog record will bring you to a list of items that have the same subject.

Series: Results will include your search terms as found within the series field. Government documents and academic journals are often entered as series. A series covers publications released in intervals though not necessarily with regularity. It may be best to use a Title search or Words or Phrase search if you’re not finding what you want.

Periodical Title: Results will include your search terms as found within the periodical titles field. Periodicals are released at regular intervals and they generally have multiple contributors. It may be best to use Title search or Words or Phrase search if you’re not finding what you want.

Now that you’ve selected the appropriate search type, we will focus on terminology. Search operators and special commands determine how the words will be used to search the catalog. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, refer to the list below. We have described the basic Boolean operators and some special characters you can utilize in your search.

Basic Boolean Search Operators and Special Commands:

AND finds only records containing all of the search words entered.

         Example: Texas AND Architecture

OR finds records containing one or both of the search words entered. This search operator provides broader results than using AND.

         Example: Cooking OR Baking

NOT finds records containing search words but excludes anything following NOT.

         Example: Architecture NOT Texas.

XOR finds records containing only one of the two words entered, not both.

         Example: Film XOR Music

: finds records containing the exact phrase found inside the quotations.

         Example: “Landscape design”

$ works as a stem/truncation search. The search will find records that begin with the stem of the word and are truncated by the $.

        Example: searching gov$ will find records for government, governor, governing,  govern, etc.

$# : If you want to limit the number of letters following the truncation, add the number sign after the dollar sign.

         Examples: gov$3 finds records for govern. gov$5 finds records for govern and governor.

? : this symbol will work as a wildcard letter in searches.

         Example: searching gr?y, will find records for both grey and gray.

Refining your search technique with search types, operators, and special commands will help get you the results you want. Keep checking our blog for more posts on how to use and navigate the catalog.

State Archives Offering Research Workshops on Second Saturdays

Beginning in January, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) will offer resource orientation workshops at 10 a.m. each Second Saturday of 2019. The workshops highlight key tools researchers may use at the State Archives or through the website, with each 20-minute session focusing on one essential resource. Reference staff will present on Texas city directories, county records, newspaper collections, vital statistics, U.S. Census records and Ancestry.com (Texas Collection).  The sequence repeats after the first cycle ends in June.

Researchers using Reference Library computers.

The free workshops should appeal to a wide range of patrons interested in library research. Those still familiarizing themselves with the assortment of access points one must navigate to discover source materials may find all of the topics germane, while the more practiced patrons may have specific collections in mind. Guests are invited to stay on and use TSLAC’s public service areas for their research activities until the library closes at 4 p.m. (Learn more about visiting the library here.) Here is the 2019 Second Saturday Workshop Series schedule:

Searching the Census Online                                              Jan. 12   |  July 13

Introduction to Newspaper Collections                                 March 9  |  Sept. 14          

Introduction to Texas County Records                                  April 13   |  Oct. 12

Ancestry.com Texas Collections                                           May 11   |  Nov. 9

Introduction to City Directories                                              June  8  |  Dec. 14

Registration is preferred but not required. Walk-ins are always welcome! For more information and to register visit https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/workshops.


NASA Turns 60 – Featured Collection in the Reference Reading Room

By Stephanie Andrews, Library Assistant

ARIS invites you to check out the newest featured book display now up in the Reference Reading Room. NASA Turns 60 features publications from our MAIN, Texas Documents, and U.S. Documents collections. From its humble beginnings as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, explore our out-of-this-world resources that examine the founding and history of this exciting federal agency.

To search for these books and more, check out our catalog at www.tsl.texas.gov/catalog. If you are interested in checking out a title on our Featured Collection shelf, please visit the Reference Desk in room 109. Below is a complete list of titles you’ll find on our Featured Collection shelf for October and November.

522 EV15B
Big and bright : a history of the McDonald Observatory
Evans, David Stanley
Main

522.2919 Sc83a
Adventure in space : the flight to fix the Hubble
Scott, Elaine
Main

523 Sc83c
Close encounters : exploring the universe with the Hubble Space Telescope
Scott, Elaine
Main

629.4 B743o
Our Space Program
Bredeson, Carmen
Main

629.40973 N1
NASA factbook; guide to National Aeronautics and Space Administration programs and activities
Renetzky, Alvin
Main

629.45 K863f
Failure is not an option : mission control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and beyond
Kranz, Gene
Main

Z UA380.8 P281we
We could not fail : the first African Americans in the space program
Paul, Richard
TXD

Z UA380.8 W736La OVER-T
Last launch : Discovery, Endeavor, Atlantis
Winters, Dan
TXD

Z TA475.8 H883DE
The Development of Propulsion Technology for U.S. Space-Launch Vehicles, 1926-1991
Hunley, J. D.
TXD

Y 4.SCI 2:115-04
NASA: past, present, and future : hearing before the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, first session, February 16, 2017
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
USD

NAS 1.2:K 38
Kennedy Space Center Story
Harris, Gordon L.
USD
Some items have been held behind the desk due to fragility or rareness of the item. The following items can be requested from the Information Services staff at the Reference Desk in room 109.

NAS 1.86:ST 2/DVD
Journey to the Stars
Emmart, Carter
USD

NAS 1.86:IM 1/CD
The First Forty Years: A Collection of Selected Images
Goddard Space Flight Center. Office of Public Affairs.
USD

NAS 1.86:AP 4/2/2004/CD
Remembering Apollo 11: The 35th Anniversary Data Archive CD-ROM
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. History Office.
USD

NAS 1.86:SU 7/5/DVD
Mysteries of the Sun
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
USD

NAS 1.86:P 23/DVD
NASA’s Earth Observatory presents: National Parks–from Space
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
USD

NAS 1.2:T 69/2/KIT
Space Travel Hazards [game]: How Safely Can You Travel Through Space?
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
USD