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The Tufts Library Catalog contains listings for all the Tufts Libraries' collections, including: books, videos, software, journal titles, microforms, e-resources, Tufts dissertations and theses, websites, course reserves, CDs and much more. Search by author, title, subject, call number, keyword and other methods listed below.

Type the word(s) that you think most pertinent to the items/topics you wish to find.

Tip: The Tufts Catalog automatically inserts AND between terms. To force the Tufts Catalog to search your words as a phrase, surround the phrase with quotation marks, such as "fluid mechanics."

Boolean Operators:
You can also use the Boolean operators (AND, OR, AND NOT, BEFORE, NEAR, and AFTER) to combine search terms in meaningful ways.

Use AND to narrow your search results.

Example: Capote and blood will find In Cold Blood written by Truman Capote.

Use OR to broaden your search results.

Example: Car or automobile will retrieve items that contain either car or automobile.

Use NEAR to specify words that are within 10 words of each other, in any order.

Example: cat near roof

You can combine various fields (title, author, subject, notes) in one search, making your search results more precise. To find DVDs about World War II in French, type:

  World War II
  Language = French
  Material Type = DVD

Limits include library location, material type, language, publisher and year of publication.

Tip: For author keyword searches, do not type the initial of the first name. Type last name only or last and first name.

Type as many or as few of the words in the title as you know:

Example: Breakfast at Tiffanys

Tip: Omit initial articles: a, an, the, le, la, der, die, etc.

Enter a periodical (journal, magazine, newspaper) title in the journal title search box.

Example: Journal of Democracy

Search for works by a particular author, composer, editor, translator, etc. Enter the author's last name first, followed by the author's first name or as much of the first name as you know.

Performers, actors, organizations, and businesses can be entered in the author search box.

No results with a full name? Leave off the first name or use just one initial.

Example: Shakespeare W

Use to limit the search result. Type the last name (or last name followed by first name) in the author field and title (or partial title) in the title field.

Tip: Use this search when you know the last name of the author and partial information about the title.

Every item in the catalog is assigned one or more subjects that explain what the item is about. Use the subject search if you are interested in a certain topic (called subject headings in the Tufts Library Catalog) and want to find items related to the topic.

Tip: No results? if you do not know the exact word or phrase used by the Library of Congress or National Library of Medicine, the organizations that assign subject headings, try a keyword search.

Tip: When you find a very relevant item, select its subject heading to see other items with the same subject headings.

MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) are assigned by the National Library of Medicine. The search technique for MeSH works the same as the Library of Congress Subject Heading, explained above.

Tip: No results? Try a keyword search.

If you know the call number of an item, type it in the call number search box.

Tip: Use the first part of the call number to browse items of the same subject.

Every book or periodical published is assigned an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or ISSN (International Standard Serial Number). If you know the ISBN or ISSN, enter the number in the ISBN/ISSN search box.

Tip: Neither punctuation, hyphens nor spacing matters.

Course reserves can be searched by instructor's last name, course name or course number.

If you know the music number of an item, type it in the music number search box.

Search for Tufts theses and dissertations by author, title or topic. You can combine search terms with AND, OR, NOT, etc.

Search for electronic resources by topic. You must limit your search to a particular format (books, videos, databases, etc.).

• Browse (view) newly received materials by library or by topic.
• Search newly received materials by title, keyword or author, and limit to a particular Tufts library.
• Set up RSS feeds on any results screen.

Go to the New Acquisitions list.

CAPITALIZATION is not required. Searches may be entered in uppercase, lower case, or mixed case.

Omit initial articles. When used as the first word of a title, English language articles such as "an" and "the" are disregarded by the catalog.

Example: Search The New Yorker as new yorker

For all other languages, omit initial articles except for places and some proper names. For Latin American countries use El Salvador not just Salvador; for the French architect use Le Corbusier.

The Catalog automatically converts the ampersand (&) to the spelled out word "and."

Apostrophes are ignored. For example, O'Hara will be searched as if spelled "ohara."

The Catalog automatically converts most other punctuation marks to spaces. A title such as U.S. Social History will be searched as if it were four words, U S Social History. If you omit the space between U and S, you will get a different search result.

AND retrieves items with both words and will narrow your search results.

Example: women and mexico

OR retrieves items with either word and will broaden your search results.

Example: zebras or elephants

Tip: Use parentheses to group words or concepts so they are processed logically.

Example: (border or boundary) and (conflict or uprising)

Use NEAR to specify words that are within 10 words of each other, in any order.

Example: cat near roof

Use WITHIN # to specify words that occur within # words of each other.

Example: state within 3 union

Use a single asterisk (*) to replace 1-5 letters at the end of words.

Example: child* will retrieve child, childhood, children, child's, etc.

Use two asterisks (**) to replace any number of letters at the end of words.

Example: class** will retrieve class, classify, classifier, classification, etc.

Use ? to replace exactly one character. You can use multiple ?s to search for a specific number of characters at the end of a word.

Example: symphon? will retrieve symphony but not symphonies

Example: anders?n will retrieve both anderson and andersen

Limit a keyword search by selecting Modify Search at top of results screen. You may limit by:

• location, so that you retrieve items at a specific Tufts library
• publication year
• language
• publisher
• material type (print, sound recording, DVD, etc.)

Limit an author, title or subject search by selecting Limit/Sort at top of results screen. You may limit by:

• location, so that you retrieve items at a specific Tufts library
• publication year
• language
• publisher
• material type (print, sound recording, DVD, etc.)
• keywords in title, author or subject

Located in a dropdown menu at the top of the results screen. You can choose a previous search to modify or rerun.

From the results display of an author, title or subject search, you can sort by:

• title
• author
• year
• reverse year
• call number
• material type

Keyword searches can be sorted by date or title. The default sort is relevance.

When an item is checked out to somone else, you can place a hold on the item by selecting Hold Item. The item will be recalled from the patron who has it and you will be notified when it is available.

The author, title and subject search results screens have three levels:

• The first level displays a brief author, title or subject.
• The second level displays brief records with call numbers.
• The third level displays a complete record.

From a complete record you many find links to the following:

• Research Guides@Tufts
• an e-preview or full text of a book we have in print.
• BLC WorldCat to borrow the book when our holdings are unavailable.
• databases and reference material on your original topic or author.

The keyword search results screen displays brief records with call numbers. Click on any title for a complete record. It also displays an icon based upon what type of material the item is. The following chart lists material types and their icons:

Displays location, volumes currently held at a location, special issues (e.g., supplements), status, (e.g., whether or not the title is currently received), last issue received, date of next issue to be received.

A stable URL that can be used to bookmark a record. By selecting Permanent Link to This Record the permanent URL will appear at the top of the navigation bar of your browser, e.g. http://library.tufts.edu/record=b1586137.

Permanent links can be bookmarked, placed on a webpage, used in Blackboard, put in a research paper, syllabus, or anywhere else you need a direct, permanent link to a Catalog record.

A standard used by libraries to describe each item in the Catalog. Use this display to discover additional information about an item, such as type of material, previous publication date and editions, and alternative Library of Congress call numbers.

1. Mark the item(s) by selecting the box to the left of each record.
2. Select Save Marked Records or Save All on Page.
3. Select View Marked Records.
• To email, type the recipients address in the Mail To box and select Submit.
• To save to a file, select Local Disk and follow the instructions.
• To print, Select Screen and select Submit.
• To export to RefWorks, select Full Display, Local Disk and Submit.

You may select records from more than one screen at a time.

Search the catalogs of most BLC (Boston Library Consortium) member libraries, as well as libraries nationwide. Borrow materials upon registration. Go to BLC WorldCat.

A-Z list of electronic databases. Search by database title and topic. Go to the Database Finder.

Simultaneously search 50 databases, including the Tufts Library Catalog, full-text, subject-specific and interdisciplinary databases. Go to Database MultiSearch.

Search for electronic journals, magazines and newspapers by title. Go to E-Journals@Tufts.

Follow Find It to locate your source material. You may link to electronic full-text, print holdings or ILLiad, if we have neither an electronic nor a print subscription.

Use ILLiad if neither the Tufts Library Catalog nor BLC WorldCat has the materials you need. Go to ILLiad.