Limiting Searches:

There are 2 different approaches to limiting searches. 

1.  Complex Search  Begin with a complex search and be more explicit in your search terms  and thereby "rule out" extraneous items.

For example, looking for Mark Twain's Autobiography, you could use the Quick Search, searching for Twain, Mark as the author (after all, it is an autobiography).  But that search returns 116 items.

Using a Complex Search with Twain, Mark as the author and Autobiography as part of the title, you find only 3 items.

2.  Limit by Type, Location, Date

Another method of limiting your search is by the location or type of item.  Suppose you are looking for the latest books related to Computer Science.  Searching by subject for Computer Science retrieves 74 items, some of which are part of the Teacher Education Library.  Instead, you would like to limit your search to Books (not journals or periodicals), written in English, published after 1995, that are currently available in Stacks for checkout.  A complex search with limits (see below) would retrieve only 7 items. 

Other item types that are often used as limits include periodical, reference or microform.

Other locations that are often used as limits include reserve, reference, or newbkshlf (new book shelf down by circulation).

See also web pages detailing information on directed searches using Library of Congress Subject Headings LCSH.