You can find books available at the UNT Libraries by using the UNT Library's Discover (catalog). 

• If you are looking for a specific book, you can search for that book directly by using the title and/or authors name. 
• If you don't have a specific book in mind, you can also browse the catalog using keywords or subject terms. 

If you need help using the catalog, you have several options:

• For general directions, you can go to Using the Library Catalog, Discover guide
• For in person help in a library on the UNT campus, go to the reference or library services desk in the library where you are working;
• For personal assistance when you are not in a library, go to Ask Us.

Keyword Searching

Keywords are natural language words. You can think of them like the words you use in a typical online search engine. Select keywords by thinking about important words or phrases related to your research topic, as well as possible synonyms. Keywords are a more flexible way to search, because the database will pull results that have those words anywhere within the text. The potential downside to this is that you may receive results that aren't related to your topic. Most library search interfaces will default to this type of search.

Searching Specific Fields

When you conduct a basic search in the library catalog and most databases, the database will search your keywords in all searchable fields, which can include the title, abstract, database-supplied keywords, subject headings, and sometimes the full text of the resource. Some databases will allow you to limit your results to those that have your keyword in specific fields.

For example, you might try limiting the search to words found only in the title or abstract. Because the title and abstract contain the key concepts discussed in an article, if your keywords are in one of those locations there is a better chance the article is relevant to your research. This can be helpful if you are getting too many results and need an additional limiter.

Subject Searching

Sometimes to narrow your search, it is helpful to search using subject terms instead of keywords. Subject headings are pre-defined words or phrases assigned by the database that describe the main topics of an article. Searching by subject heading is typically much more precise than searching by keyword, but it can be hard to guess the specific subject headings used by a database.

There are a couple of ways to find the subject headings related to your topic in a database. Some databases have an online thesaurus that lists the subject headings used in that database. You can use that thesaurus to select subject headings related to your topic. Alternately, if you start with a keyword search and identify a few relevant articles, you can check the subject headings used for those articles.

To conduct a subject search in the UNT Library Catalog, search using the "subject" option. Using subject terms will only find items indexed with that specific subject and can help avoid unwanted results, especially if your desired topic contains common words or words that can have multiple meanings. 

• Helpful Hint: Once you have successfully found one resource on your desired topic, you can easily find more using subject searching. On the catalog record for any book, you can scroll down to see all subjects listed for this book. Most article databases include a similar feature.

Narrowing Your Search

In both keyword searching and subject searching, it is often necessary to continue narrowing your search to find relevant results. The UNT Library catalog offers many "facets" which make limiting your search easy and operate similarly to the search functions on many popular online retailers.

Identify the keywords in your research question.

Keywords are words that carry content and meaning. The keywords in the research  question "What is the feeding range of the blue whale in the Pacific Ocean?" are feeding range, blue whale and Pacific Ocean.

Brainstorm synonyms for your keywords.

Think of words similar to your keywords in case a database doesn't use your original keywords. Synonyms for blue whale are baleen whale and Balaenoptera musculus.

When you don't know synonyms for your topic keywords, you can use online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books to find them. These databases are great places to find keyword synonyms.

• Credo reference

  Credo Reference offers full-text, aggregated content which covers every major subject from the world's best publishers of reference. Patrons gain access to over 3,400,000 entries, from over 675 reference books, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, etc. Dates of Coverage: Current

• Gale Virtual Reference Library

  Gale Virtual Reference Library Selected reference ebooks on Business, environment, history, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, religion, science, and social science. Includes Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English, Encyclopedia of Science & Religion, Encyclopedia of Science Technology & Ethics, Encyclopedia of Sociology, Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders, and World of Forensic Science and others. Dates of Coverage: Varies with publication

Create Boolean searches using the keywords.

A Boolean search is a search using the words AND, OR and NOT between the keywords. These words have a special function when used in a database.

• The search [blue whale AND Pacific Ocean] will find all of the articles that contain both words. AND makes your search narrower.
• The search [blue whale OR Balaenoptera musculus] will find all articles that contain one word, or the other, or both. OR is placed between synonyms and makes your search broader.
• The search [blue whale NOT Atlantic Ocean] will find all articles containing "blue whale" and exclude the articles that also contain "Atlantic Ocean." NOT excludes articles that you don't want.  

Use the truncation symbol (or wildcard symbol) to search for word variations.

You can avoid doing multiple searches for variations on word endings using the truncation symbol * (the asterisk) in most databases.  Entering the keyword "blue whale*" will look for both blue whale and blue whales.

Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase

You can put quotation marks around a set of words to limit the results to only those that have those words in that exact order.

Add keywords to limit the type of article you retrieve.

If you want a literature review, add "AND review" to your keywords. To find a research study, add "AND study" to your keywords.

Enter your Boolean searches in the Advanced Search of a database.

It's easier to use the Advanced Search in a database to enter your Boolean searches because it gives you multiple boxes with the Boolean operators between them. If you are using a search with multiple search strings, enter OR within the search boxes and AND between the search boxes, e.g., [blue whale OR Balaenoptera musculus] AND [feeding range OR feeding grounds] AND [Pacific Ocean].

Use available filters to limit results

Most databases include filters for things like data range, resource type, and language. Use filters as appropriate to remove less relevant results.