Skip to main content

Catalog Help

Catalog Coverage

Our catalog includes records for physical and electronic resources at the Law Library, other W&M libraries, Colonial Williamsburg's Rockefeller Library, and the Richard Bland College Library.

Basic Search

The basic search interface features a single search box. Type one or more words, then hit enter or click on the search symbol. The results page will include options for sorting and filtering your results.

Advanced Search

The advanced search page features multiple search boxes for different fields (such as title or author) and pre-search filtering options. By default, your search covers all content in the catalog. Using the buttons above the search boxes, you may limit your search to certain categories:

  • Books & Media includes print books, e-books, journals, microforms, DVDs, and other media.
  • Articles includes most articles available in our online databases. If you don't find the article you want, try searching for the periodical title in Books & Media.
  • Course Reserves features resources placed on reserve at an instructor's request.

You can find additional options for limiting your results through the drop-down menus to the right of the search boxes. After running your search, you will see additional options for sorting and filtering your results.

Phrase Searching and Connectors

By default, the catalog retrieves results that contain all the words you enter. Results that have your words in close proximity will be ranked higher in relevance.

Phrase Searching: To search for an exact phrase, use double quotation marks. You may combine both words and phrases in your search.

Connectors: You may use the connectors AND, OR, or NOT between your words. Use the AND connector to search for all the words you enter. (Unlike a default search without connectors, an AND search does not use word proximity as a factor.) Use the OR connector to search for any of the words you enter. Use the NOT connector to exclude results that contain a word or phrase. The catalog recognizes these connectors only when entered in ALL CAPS.

You may use parentheses to clarify the order of multiple operators. For example, law AND (copyright OR trademark) returns results containing law and either copyright or trademark.

Using Wildcards

Use a question mark (?) for a single character wildcard search. For example, wom?n will retrieve woman or women.

Use an asterisk (*) for a multiple character wildcard search. For example, contract* will retrieve contract or contractual.

The catalog automatically searches for the standard singular and plural versions of words you enter. For example, loss will also retrieve losses.

Sign in to the Catalog for More Options

Signing in to the catalog with your W&M ID enables more options:

  • Request delivery of items from Swem Library
  • Review a list of the books checked out to you
  • Renew books
  • Save search queries and set alerts