One of the advantages of a computerized catalog is the ability to search many fields. In library lingo, another way to say this is that computerized systems provide an increased number of access points. As we saw in the previous record, these fields (access points) are author, title, subject headings, notes, etc. The broadest search is the keyword search. It searches all the fields for the terms you enter and retrieves the most records. Searching the Online Catalog
How do you decide what type of search to do? Base your choice on the information you have. If you know the title, do a title search. If you know the author, do an author search. If you know the subject, do a subject search.
One of the most basic searches is the title search. Sometimes you have the option of an exact title search, a keyword title search, or both. If you enter Diary Anne Frank or Anne Diary Frank in a keyword search, the online catalog retrieves exactly the same records. When doing a title search, the order of the words is not critical unless you choose an adjacent words search. If a system has an exact title or adjacent words search option, you must enter the terms in the correct order.
