College of DuPage Library

Search by Phrase:

Increase search result relevancy by using quotation marks. For example, “Civil Rights” in quotation marks will find results on “civil rights” and not results that have the terms “civil” and “rights” listed independently.

Search Type:

If you know the title, subject or author name, select the appropriate type of search from the dropdown menu.

Connecting Search Terms:

Use "AND", "OR" or "NOT" to connect search terms. For example, if you want to find books on the Civil Rights movement in urban areas, type "Civil rights" in the first box and Urban in the second. Doing so will improve the relevancy of your search results.

Material Types

The Library catalog searches for more than just books--you can use it to find videos, articles, audiobooks, and magazines as well as books and e-books. Click on one of the buttons to find that type of material. Unless changed, search results will default to Books & E-books.

Material Locations

By default, the Library catalog will search for materials from not only the COD Library, but also I-Share and worldwide libraries. In most cases, items held by the COD Library are listed first with items from other libraries listed after that.

However, you can use this setting to limit your searched to only the COD Library or only the COD and I-Share libraries.