Searching the Library Catalog

This tutorial will help you find books using the Library Catalog.

Finding Books in the Library Catalog

1. Starting from the UW-Madison Libraries’ homepage, choose “Catalog” from the drop-down menu.
2. Enter a book title, author name, or subject keywords into the search box and select the “Submit” button.
3. Under the search box are options to limit your search, if you desire. For example, you can limit to only items available online or only print/physical items. The Library Catalog searches the collections of all UW System campuses. Another option is to limit your search to only items in UW-Madison collections.
4. From the results page, you can select a book title to see its full information page, which provides details about the book and where to locate it.

Advanced Search

• If you want to have more search options, you can use “Advanced Search.” 
  • On the UW-Madison Libraries’ homepage, “Advanced Search” is in the left-hand corner under the Catalog search box.
  • Options on the “Advanced Catalog Search” page allow you to search  by:
    • Subject
    • Call number
    • Publication Year
    • And more …
• On the right side of the page, there are options to limit your search. There is a “Format” list under “Limit Your Search.” You can use this list to limit your search results to materials of different formats. 
• Above the “Format” option, there is a list of  “Locations,” including specific UW-Madison Libraries and libraries of other UW campuses. To limit your search to materials located at a specific library or libraries, select  “Locations,” then select a UW campus, and next select a library or libraries.
• Under the “Format” option there is “Language” limit option. To limit your search to materials in a specific language or languages, select “Language” and then a language or languages from the list.