About
Books: finding and using books at KU Libraries and beyond
Library Catalog search tips
Search Tips
Keyword
- Enter words in any order
- Use quotes to search phrases: "central asia"
- Use ? to truncate: ukrain?
AND, OR, NOT (Boolean operators)
- Combine terms: puskhkin AND lermontov
- Use NOT judicioulsly so you don't exclude relevant content
- Use parentheses: (poland or polish) AND cinema
Author
- Last name first: platonov, andrei
- Spaces in initials: turgenev, i s
- Include periods in acronyms: U.S.S.R.
Title, Journal Title
- Omit initial articles (a, an, the...)
Subject Headings
- Omit punctuation
- Search Limits do NOT apply
Worldcat
Can't find it at KU? Search WorldCat, then borrow via Interlibrary Loan.
- WorldCat This link opens in a new windowSearch WorldCat to find books in other major research libraries. Then, request to borrow books through KU's Interlibrary Loan service.
- Interlibrary Loan & Document DeliveryHelps you get books and articles not owned by KU. Watch the tutorial below to learn how to use this service.
Google Books
- Google book search This link opens in a new windowGoogle Book Search (unlike WorldCat) searches the full-text of the books in its inventory. WorldCat is limited to searching only by title, author, subject heading, and other specific and limited information about a book. Because Google Book Search lets you search within books, you can see a table of contents, or an index, or just a portion of a book. You can then locate the book in a nearby library.
ILL Tutorial
E-Books and Ebrary (examples)
E-Books
Use Ebrary to search for e-books about Slavic cultures, languages, linguistics, literatures, and more.