WorldCat Discovery: Searching Tips & Tricks

Basic Searching

By default, a basic search is a "keyword" search.  After entering a search term, click the "Search" button or click "Enter" on your keyboard. A typical result will display as the following journal, which shows holdings in both print and electronic versions. 

Use filters to make your search more specific by year, item type, language, etc. 

Shortcuts

Use these shortcuts available in the upper-right corner of the homepage of WorldCat Discovery to access popular services and journal bundles. 

Expert searching

Expert searches (ones that contain index labels and Boolean operators) can be entered in any search box, including the search boxes on the Advanced Search screen.  

Please note: If you use an index label for one search term in the box, you must use index labels for all search terms. Otherwise those without labels will be treated as a keyword.  

Some of the more useful labels include:  (using the : makes it a word search, so any word that matches in the field will result in a hit; using an = creates a phrase search so the words must be in that order to result in a hit)