ATLA Tutorial

Searching:

General Searching:

Below is the initial screen that you will see. The steps of searching the database are listed below. The areas mentioned in each step are marked on the image with a bubble noting the step number (e.g., the Search for: box mentioned in step 1 is marked on the image with a bubble numbered "1"). Additional tips are included below the screen image.

1. Type one or more search terms into the first Search for: box. If you are searching for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in quotes.
2. Choose the appropriate index from the drop-down box to the right of your search terms.
3. Click the Search button. If more terms are needed for searching, follow steps 4 through 7.
4. Type your search terms in the second and third Search for: boxes if needed.
5. Choose the indexes for the terms entered in step 3.
6. Select the appropriate Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to connect the Search for: boxes.
7. Click the Search button.

Search Tips:

• The difference between the author and author phrase indexes (or any other index and phrase) is keyword verse phrase searches. This means that the author will search just one word as keyword in the author field (e.g., "Lewis" in author will turn up any author with either first, last, or middle name of Lewis) whereas using the author phrase index will allow you to search for "Lewis, Edwin".
• To find the specific form of an entry (e.g, C. S. Lewis). Type the form you think is correct (e.g., "Lewis, C. S.") in the Search for: box (1 or 4 above) and click the Browse Index button to the right of the Index box (2 or 5 above). This will take you into the index at that spot showing all the entries in that vicinity.
• It is better to not limit a search by year, language, or the other options below the search boxes unless necessary. Unnecessary limits may slow the search or cause inaccurate results.