J&W Library | Denver | research help

Step 2. Access Gather information and sources
Library Catalog | Article Databases | Journal Locator | Class Guides | LC Call #

Search the Library Catalog (HELIN)

Go to the Library homepage and select Library Catalog.
Select the appropriate search type keyword, title, author or LC Subject.
Type your search terms in the textbox.
Select "J&W - Charlotte, North Carolina " to limit your search to a specific library/campus.
Click Submit.

Please note: the Charlotte Campus Library shares its catalog with the other JWU libraries and several academic libraries located in Rhode Island.

Searching Tips

Keyword Searches

Allow you to restrict your search by format, language, date or certain fields.
Allow you to use Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to broaden, narrow, or define your search more clearly. For example, searching "business AND ethics", retrieves records that contain all of the search terms. Searching, "WWW OR world wide web", retrieves records that contain any of the search terms. And, searching "java NOT Indonesia", retrieves records that contain the first term, but not the second term.
Allow you to use truncation. You may truncate a search term by typing the root word with an asterisk at the end. For example, searching for econom* will find records containing the words: economics, economist, economy, etc.
Can retrieve too many records or irrelevant records if your search is not focused.

Title Searches

If you do not know the exact title, begin by doing a Keyword Search.
Omit initial articles (a, an, the, la, etc.)
Do NOT use the truncation symbol (*).
Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve records that begin with the words or phrases entered.
Do NOT use Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT.
If your Title search is unsuccessful, try other spelling and number variations of title words. For example: for "organization" also try "organisation"; for "two", also try "2"; for "website", also try "web site".
Similarly, try initials, acronyms, or abbreviations of title words. For example, for "US", also try "United States".

Author Searches

For an individual author's name, enter the last name (family name or surname), a space, and then the first (personal) name: "beard james."
You need not include a first name or initial, but for common last names it is helpful to include at least part of the first name: "williams tenn"
If the spelling of the last name is uncertain, search only part of it: "dostoev"
Try variant spellings of names: for "smith", try "smythe". Similarly, try acronyms or abbreviations of names: for "GE", try "general electric".
For multi-part surnames, follow the conventions of the author's country or language: "gogh vincent van"
For organizations, corporations, or government agencies as authors, search enough of the name to distinguish the section or department of the organization responsible for a work: "johnson and wales university international baking"
For conferences, omit the year or number of the conference:" ieee conference on control applications", rather than "9th ieee conference"
Do NOT use Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT.
Do NOT use the truncation symbol (*). Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve records that begin with the words or phrases entered.

Subject Searches

A common cause of failed searches is using non-LCSH phrases in subject searches.
You must use LC subject headings in subject searches; for free text searching, use Keyword Searching.
To narrow your subject heading search, include all hyphenated terms found in the subject heading. Dashes are not required. For example, enter "hotels employees attitudes", not "hotels employees".
Do NOT use the truncation symbol (*). Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve records that begin with the words or phrases entered.

Call Number Searches

LC call numbers consist of letter-number groups: "DJ1 K69"
Enter the period in LC call numbers if one appears within a number group. Other punctuation that appears in LC call numbers is not required for searching: "HB1043.4 A3 S67 1985"
Enter a space between each letter-number group in LC call numbers: "QC984 O5 A2"
Enter a space before a date designation in LC call numbers: "PR878 B47 C73 2000"
Do NOT use the truncation symbol (*). Searches are automatically truncated and retrieve records that begin with the words or phrases entered.