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Michael Schwartz Library

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Michael Schwartz Library

A General Guide: Theatre History

A guide for students studying the history of theatre.

SCHOLAR Online Catalog

Searching in Scholar

Use Scholar online catalog to search the CSU Library collection for books, videos, audio, and more.

There are two ways to get into the Scholar catalog. The first is to use the tab above the search box on the library's homepage.

Find the scholar tab on the library homepage

The second way is to click on the link in the right-hand column below the image on the library's homepage.

Find the scholar link on the library homepage

It's important to note that the default search in Scholar is by Title. If you don't have a specific title in mind, you might want to change your search parameters to Keyword.

Search by keyword

Then, when you're ready, go ahead and type your search terms in the search box and click Search or Go.

The way you type your search terms into the search box can have a significant effect on the relevancy and focus of your search results.

Type in your keywords

In this example, I used the word AND between two words or phrases. This is called a Boolean operator. Other Boolean operators include OR and NOT. To use these words, put them between two or more words or phrases from your search terms, and make sure they are capitalized as they are here.

I also put a phrase in quotation marks. This tells the search engine to search for this string of words together, in this order, instead of for each word on its own somewhere in the record.

You can also limit your search by using the button above the search bar that says Limit/Sort Search.

Limit or sort your search

 

From here I can easily limit to a certain material type (book, music score, film/video, etc.), language, time range of publication, or publisher.

Use limiters to manipulate your results

After you complete a search in Scholar, clicking on the title of the material you're interested in will bring you to the item's record. The record will tell you more about the material, such as the name of the author, the publisher, and the publication date. To get even more information, click on the Full Record tab.

Use the full record tab to get more info

Now you can see even more information, including the subject headings that have been assigned to this resource. Subject headings, which are words or phrases that describe the material, can be very helpful in telling you more about what this resource is about as well as guiding you to other relevant materials.

Use subject headings to find more relevant materials

Clicking on a subject heading will bring you a list of other library materials that have also been assigned this subject heading. This is an easy way to find your way to other relevant sources.

The three pieces of information you need to get a book or other material that you've found in Scholar off the shelf and checked out are:

1) Location - where in the library the book can be found, such as 2nd Floor Book Stacks

2) Call Number - where on the shelf to find the book, such as  BF1078 .F748 1999 

3) Status - whether or not the book is checked out, available, damaged, missing, or only available for use within the library

Find the source using the location, call number, and status

If you need help finding library material using the Library of Congress call number, see this helpful guide to reading call numbers.