Geography

Searching for books

The OSU Library catalog and the Summit catalog operate very similarly.  Even better they are connected to one another, making your job a little easier.

*Start with the OSU Libraries catalog. 

Keyword searching

Use the keyword search feature to start.

You can search:

• individual words, separately (ie fisheries)
• multiple words anywhere in the catalog record (fisheries Alaska)
• phrases ("Alaskan fisheries")
• word stems where you might want to search a variety of words at once (fisher* -- which will result in records that contain fisheries, fishery, fisherman, but not fishing, fishes or fish)
• Other features are available such as limiting by year published, media type, etc.

Look closely at the item records for the results you are getting.  Be sure to look at the subject headings.

Subject heading searches

You may find this feature useful once you have explored your topic and have found how your topic is described by others.  This will help you navigate the catalogs a little easier.  For example, in one of the records for my searches on Alaskan fisheries, I found these subject headings

Fishing villages -- Alaska -- Case studies.
Fishing villages -- Social aspects -- Alaska.
Fishing villages -- Economic aspects -- Alaska.
Alaska -- Economic conditions.

If I click on these headings from the catalog record, I may (or may not) find additional titles described in the same way.

Repeating your search in Summit

Once you have done a search in the OSU Libraries catalog you can click "Try Summit Libraries" to see if any regional libraries have additional titles that meet the search criteria.