If you do not have precise information on the title, author, or subject of your desired item but you believe that doing a generic keyword search will result in too many hits, you can perform keyword searches in multiple fields of the record. In order to do this kind of a search, select "Expert Keyword" from the File menu at the top of the screen.
If you know that a book with a title about mechanical technology was written by an author called Johnson, you can enter these words in the Expert Keyword text box. However, you need to use a particular syntax. In order to specify the field to be searched, you must enter a two letter code describing this field. The following codes are the most common.
| Abbreviation | Field Name | Notes |
| AU | Author | Author words |
| TI | Title | Title words |
| SU | Subject | Use su periodicals when looking for a journal with a common name, such as Science. |
| SE | Series | Use with series names, such as Lecture Notes in Computer Science, and series numbers. |
| CN | Call number | Enter call number with punctuation but without spaces. |
| PU | Publisher | Enter words from the publisher or publishing house. |
| BN | ISBN | This is the unique identifier for books and monographic items. |
| SN | ISSN | This is the unique identifier for journals and serial items. |
Enter the terms for which you want to search in the text box provided using the syntax shown below. If you do not use a field code, the default field searched will be subject. If you type several words together, the system will search for them as an exact phrase. It is important, as in keyword searching, to avoid conjunctions, articles, and common words. In order to search for words from different fields or from nonconsecutive words within a field, use the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT, as in the example.
When you have entered the search terms, the computer will bring up a list of items that contain the desired keywords in the specified fields. If there is only a single record, the system will retrieve that record. When confronted with a list, type the line number of the record in which you are interested. Once you have obtained a record, press ctrl-N until you scroll past UIUC Additional Information and UIUC Acquisitions and can see a list of holding libraries. Continue to press ctrl-N to find the library in which you are interested.
In order to find the holdings information for your library of choice, select the line number on which that library appears. The holdings screen will tell you how many copies of the book are held at the library and which are Available, Charged, or Noncirculating. Noncirculating items must be used in the library, Available items can be checked out, and Charged items have already been checked out by someone else.
Click here to learn to do a more basic keyword search.
