Did you ever notice when searching for a journal title in Thomcat, depending on which search parameter you select--Keyword, Browse or Exact--your results may be dramatically different? Here’s a roundup of journal search methods available in the catalog, with clues on how they work and what your results mean.
This is the default option from the basic search screen, and it performs the broadest search of the three options. It’s an ideal selection when you are sure of only certain words in the title. For example, if you know a title contains the word “cancer” and “journal,” but do not know the exact title, the keyword search will show you all periodical titles that contain both words, regardless of the order in which those words occur:
Quick tip: You will note that initial keyword search results are not in alphabetical order, but rather in the order that they were added to the catalog by Library staff. Fortunately, these can easily be re-ordered. Simply scroll to the “Search Again” section at the bottom of the screen, and select “Title” from the “Sort By” pulldown menu. Click “Enter” to submit, and your original results will be re-sorted alphabetically.
The Browse option is like looking up a title in an index. If you only know how a title begins, this option will place you in an alphabetic list of titles that start with that word or phrase.
This search is sometimes helpful in alerting you to word variations that you might not have anticipated. Note that the Browse search always begins one entry before the term you entered. For instance, the first entry in a Browse search for “gynecologic” will be the title entry “GYNAECOLOGICA”.
Some searchers prefer to use the browse option exclusively, as it generally finds the title you are looking for, as long as your search term occurs at the beginning of a title. Note that Browse is not helpful if you don’t know how a title begins.
The Exact option can be helpful when you want a specific journal title that is also a common word in many other journal titles.
The journal “Science” is a good illustration of when the Exact search option might be helpful. This option will take you directly to the two titles that contain only the word Science. Multiple records of this title appear in brief, with the item type denoted for you to select your desired format (i.e, e-journal or journal).
By contrast, a Keyword search for “Science” shows you 74 journal titles, and the titles are not displayed alphabetically. A Browse search for “Science” shows you all journal titles that begin with the word Science, including the specific title “Science.”
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