Skip to Main Content
Wellesley College Research Guides

CAMS 201: Technologies of Cinema & Media

Search the Library Catalog

Catalog Search Tips

Why should I search the library catalog?

The library catalog is another way to search for books, ebooks, and videos. Although SuperSearch includes the library catalog, searching the catalog separately can give you a smaller, more focused set of results. While SuperSearch will search inside many books, for example, the library catalog will just search information about each book (what is often called metadata). This can be very helpful for relevancy (since you'll only get results in which your search terms are important enough to be included in the metadata), but it means the specific terms you choose become more important. Try a variety of keywords, and use what you find to find more. You can also use the subject terms to browse related materials.

Try a keyword search. Once you find a book that's relevant to your topic, click on the title and look for Subjects in the record of that book to help you find "more like this."

Sample keyword search for

  • artificial intelligence ethics

leads to linked subject terms and more books related to this topic, e.g.,

 

Clicking the first word or phrase above will show you everything listed under the broader topic (e.g., Artificial intelligence). Clicking a subsequent word or phrase will take you to the narrower topic (e.g., clicking "Moral and ethical aspects" in Artificial intelligence > Moral and ethical aspects will show you everything listed under that subtopic of "Artificial Intelligence").

 

Once you find a useful subject term, you can also use it to browse related subtopics, by choosing "Browse Alphabetically by Topic" from the menu next to the search box, and entering the subject term.


Not finding enough, or found an item that's checked out? Search WorldCat and request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.

Don't know where to find a book in the Library? Check out this quick guide.

Borrowing from Elsewhere

owl mail

Can't find what you're looking for at Wellesley?

Use WorldCat Discovery to search and request directly from libraries worldwide via Interlibrary Loan.

Questions? Interlibrary Loan Guide