Subject Search in Advanced Search

Index Catalogue subject headings are not indexed as full phrases since subject headings differ between series and some terms are no longer in use.

A Subject Search matches terms only from Index Catalogue's main subject headings or subheadings. Combine subject keywords to broaden or limit concepts using boolean AND, or, NOT operators.

To perform a Subject search:

1. Click on the Advanced search tab on the main search page and select Subject Search in the drop down list

2. Type the word(s) you want to search in the Advanced Search box

3. From the drop-down list, select whether you want to search for:

• Any of these (meaning OR)
• All of these (meaning AND)
• As a phrase

4. To search exact subject headings or partial subject phrases from Index Catalogue, always select 'As a phrase'

5. When you are not certain of word order, select 'All of these'

6. When in doubt, use 'Any of these' when you are not sure what terms are applied.

• Select some synonyms for your concept
• Truncate terms using the question mark (?) to find headings or related headings.

Example: Search Anthrax? in Series 3 and retrieve:

• Anthrax
• Anthrax (Bacillus of)
• Anthrax (Bacillus of, Biology and Morphology of)
• Anthrax (Blood in)
• Anthrax (Bronchial)

To perform a personal name as Subject search:

1. Enter name in Lastname Firstname format

2. Select 'As a phrase' or 'All of these'

Search tips:

• An established heading in one series does not always carry over to another series.
• See Spelling Tips for hints on terms using æ and œ - For searching, enter these as 'ae' and 'oe'
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