Skip to Main Content

LS 102 Course Materials: Field Searching

Introduction to Information Research

Field Searching

A basic keyword search looks for the words you enter in all the fields in a record. However, with field searching you can search specific fields, like author or subject, to help locate sources.

For example, say a professor recommended a book in class. You remember the author’s last name (Strunk) and a word from the title (style). You can use the Library Catalog’s (Book & More's) “Advanced Search” to enter the information you know in the appropriate fields (Author=strunk; Title=style) and hit “search.” You see the result is The Elements of Style by William Strunk.

Advanced search screen from the Library Catalog allows you to search the Title, Author, and Subject fields separately or together. The screenshot shows an example of a search with the Title Field and Author Field for a particular book. In the search box labeled "Title," the search text is "Style." In the search box labeled "Author," the search text is "Strunk." This search will find only results that mention the word "Style" in the Title field and "Strunk" in the Author field.

Your search results...

Search results screen from the Library Catalog for the previous field search, which asked for a book with the word "Style" in the title field and the word "Strunk" in the Author field. The two results are for the same book. The title is "The elements of style." The author is "William Strunk." These results matches the specifications of the field search.

You can do the same type of field searching in our databases, such as Academic Search Complete. To the right of the search box is the drop down menu where you can select in which field in the record the database will look.

Search screen from the database Academic Search Complete demonstrating the many potential field options from the drop down menu labeled 'Select a Field" to the right of the each search box. The screenshot points out the AU Author and SO Source fields as specific examples.

In the above illustration, you see how you have the power to search by letting the database know exactly where it needs to look.

Look at the red arrows. Looking for works by a specific professor? Enter the name and designate the appropriate field (AU Author).  Want information about nursing from a specific journal? Type the name of the journal and designate the appropriate field (SO Journal Name).