Search
You can search in the LocatorPlus Catalog by simply typing one or more words that you are looking for and clicking the Search button. If you enter multiple words, the catalog will return results that contain all the specified terms. Searches are not case-sensitive.
You can also use the Search by Voice function to speak your search.
You can search for ISBNs and ISSNs with or without hyphens, but if you are not getting expected results with hyphens, try your search again without hyphens.
Search field qualifiers used in square brackets are not recognized. The advanced search [link] option can be used instead to create a detailed search query using specific fields.
Once you are familiar with the basic LocatorPlus Catalog search, you can explore the additional features available in the Refine your results panel and Advanced Search options to make your searches more precise and to get more useful results.
Refining Your Results
The LocatorPlus Catalog gives users the ability to refine their search results based on multiple available filters. Users may also sort all results by Relevance, Date, Title, and Author.
To apply facets, select the facet to expand available options and make selections to the left of each, then click the Apply Filters button located below the facets. To exclude facets, select the box on the right of the facet.
You can do more than just a basic search by placing the following operators between words or phrases: AND, OR, and NOT. Searches with multiple operators are processed in the following order, from left to right:
- ( ) – Parentheses allow you to group search terms and alter the order of precedence.
- AND and NOT – left-to-right precedence is used in case of multiple operators.
- OR – left-to-right precedence is used in case of multiple operators.
Although operators provide greater control over the search, the full search string is not treated as a phrase. For example, the following queries are treated differently even though they appear to be almost identical:
Public health ethics – LocatorPlus Catalog treats the entire query as a phrase and returns results in which all of the words may be closer together.
Public health AND ethics – LocatorPlus Catalog treats public health and ethics as separate phrases and returns results in which both phrases may not be as close together.
LocatorPlus Catalog assumes that you are searching for all the words unless you type OR or NOT between words and phrases.
Searching For a Phrase
To search for an exact phrase, type quotation marks around the phrase. You can combine both words and phrases in your search. If you do not enclose the phrase with quotation marks, the system will find items that contain the individual words in the phrase, regardless of whether these words are located next to each other in the order specified.
If a comma is used to separate words in a list, the comma must be followed by a space. Otherwise, the system will consider the comma to be part of the word and return fewer results than expected.
For example, to search for home healthcare as one term, type the following in the search box:
“home healthcare”
Searching For Any Specified Words or Phrases
You can search for items that contain at least one of the words or phrases you type in the Search box. To do so, type OR between the words or phrases. If you search for words or phrases without specifying OR or NOT, LocatorPlus Catalog assumes that you are searching for all the specified words or phrases.
For example, to search for items with the word RN or the word nurse, type the following in the search box:
RN OR nurse
To use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) within search phrases, you must enter them in uppercase letters. Otherwise, LocatorPlus Catalog removes them and performs a basic search that includes all search phrases.
Excluding Words or Phrases
You can exclude items that contain specific words or phrases. To do so, type NOT and then type the word or phrase to exclude. If you search for words or phrases without specifying OR or NOT, LocatorPlus Catalog assumes that you are searching for all of the specified words or phrases.
For example, to search for items with the word RN and exclude any of these items with the word nurse, type the following in the search box:
RN NOT Nurse
If parentheses are not used for a query that contains multiple operators, it is recommended that you use the NOT operator last to ensure that results are excluded from the entire query. For example: public AND medicine NOT community. If it is necessary to place the NOT operator elsewhere, make sure that you enclose the operation with parentheses. For example: (public NOT medicine) OR community.
Searching Using Wildcard Characters
You can include the following wildcard characters in your searches:
? – enter a question mark to perform a single character wildcard search. For example, type wom?n to search for records that contain the strings woman, women, and so forth.
* – enter an asterisk to perform a multiple character wildcard search. For example, type cultur* to search for records that contain strings, such as culture, cultural, and culturally.
Grouping Terms Within a Query
You can use parentheses to group terms to clarify the order of multiple operators specified in a query.
Example 1: The following query searches for records that contain Darwin and either notes or letters:
Darwin AND (notes OR letters)
When using more than one operator, it is strongly recommended to use parentheses to clarify precedence. For example, if no parentheses are specified in the above query, LocatorPlus Catalog will apply the precedence rules and instead group the words Darwin and notes as follows:
(Darwin AND notes) OR letters
Selecting Your Search Scope
The search scope defines where the system should perform the search. There are four scopes available:
- Library Catalog + Digital Collections: This encompasses the entire NLM collection including NLM Digital Collections. Some resources have records in both the Library Catalog and the Digital Collections. The source of the record is identified in the search results.
- Digital Collections: This scope only searches items in NLM Digital Collections, the National Library of Medicine's free online repository of biomedical resources including books, manuscripts, still images, videos, and maps.
- Library Catalog: This scope excludes Digital Collections records.
The Controlled Vocabulary service (which is similar to AutoComplete) expands user searches with words and phrases that constitute variations of the search term with the same meaning, thereby increasing the accuracy of the users' searches. The expansions are visible on the screen and add, for example, variations of the search term with the same meaning (example ADHD and attention deficit disorder).
Users are provided with an option to revert to using only their original search term. For example, if the user enters heart attack in the query, LocatorPlus Catalog also returns results that include myocardial infarction. If the user is interested only in results that include heart attack, the user can click the link to the right of the recommendation.
Advanced Search
The advanced search function allows the user to specify additional lines of criteria beyond what is available with the basic search. The search scope can be selected via the top drop down menu
A. Field selector – For each search line, this parameter allows you to narrow the search to all search fields or a particular field (such as title and subject).
B. Search type – For each search line, this parameter indicates how your search terms are compared against the search field. The following values are valid:
- contains – Returns results that contain all words in the phrase, but the words may be in a different order and may not be as close together.
- contains exact phrase – Returns results that contain phrases that exactly match the phrases specified in the query.
- starts with – Returns results that contain words that start with the specified string. This type performs left-anchored title and holding call number searches only.
- ·equals exact phrase – Returns results that contain only the exact phrase used in the search. This type is for author, title and subject searches only.
C. Search box – For each search line, enter the search query text, which may include words, phrases, and operators (AND, OR, and NOT).
D. Operators – The same operators that work in a basic search are available in advanced search as well. See the Search Operators section for more information.
E. Filters – Filters allow you to narrow your results to specific metadata (such as a material type or date range). In the search results, you can include and exclude facets to filter your results further.
The Barcode Search allows you to search by an item's barcode to locate specific physical items and display the associated bibliographic record. To search by barcode, select the Barcode Search tab. To return to the Advanced Search screen, select the Advanced search tab.
Journals A-Z allows you to locate print and electronic journals included in the LocatorPlus Catalog. Enter the journal title or ISSN number in the search box. Where applicable, your search is enhanced by auto-complete functionality. You can also use the A-Z list to select the starting letter of a journal and then browse the list.
The Browse Search allows you to explore authors, titles, subjects, series, or NLM call numbers in the LocatorPlus Catalog in an alphabetical list rather than keyword or advanced searches. It is particularly useful for finding items when you know part of the title, author name, or call number, or you would like to see what subjects are defined in a specific area.
Note: The number of results for any browse search may not always match the number of results you find when you click on the result. In some cases, your query was matched in multiple fields in the same record. For example, if you did a Title search, LocatorPlus Catalog may have found your query in multiple fields in the same records. In other cases, your query may have found a match in a suppressed or restricted holding and that record will not be displayed when you click on the result.
The Find Citation tool does not search for records the same way as the rest of LocatorPlus Catalog does. You can enter a citation (such as a journal article title, ISSN, DOI, or PMID) into the Find Citation form. Based on the information provided, the tool will point you to the full text, if available, or other information. For best results, include a title, ISSN, ISBN, DOI or PMID.
Last Reviewed: August 20, 2026