Search for resources

When you search for library resources, you can enter search terms such as the following:

  • Title
  • Author
  • Publisher
  • Donor
  • Subject
  • Call number

    • To search by call number, you must search for the exact call number. For example, if your library catalogs new books by authors, with the first three letters of the author’s last name, you might search for FIC PAT to find James Patterson fiction books.

  • Call number and volume (for serial publications)

You can also search by the following record identifiers:

  • ISBN (international standard book number)
  • ISSN (international standard serial number)
  • National bibliography number
  • Other standard identifier
  • Control number

In the search results, Vega displays items that match your search terms. If you select a title or an author, Vega displays information about the resource and related items, contributors, and topics that you can explore.

You must sign in to access all the features that Vega offers. When you sign in and perform a search, the Search Results page and the Resource page list availability at your home library first. Vega lists availability at other locations after the home location.

After your initial search, you can search for serial publications by call number and volume. For more information, see the following topics:

  • Only use important keywords in the search. Don't include words such as the, a, an, are, in, and on.

Example:

write procedure

  • Use combinations of keywords with the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to expand or narrow the search results. AND requires both keywords to be in the matching resources. Use AND to narrow the search.

Example:

write AND procedure

OR requires either keyword or both to be in the matching resources. Use OR to expand the search.

Example:

writer OR editor

NOT requires a keyword to be absent from the matching resources. Use NOT to exclude topics that are not of interest.

Example:

writer NOT journalist

  • If you use the AND operator in a search, all the keywords will appear in the results, but the keywords might appear in different places in the resulting resources. To ensure that the keywords appear together, use a phrase search in quotation marks.

Example:

“How to write a procedure”

  • If you use a combination of AND and OR operators in a search, use parentheses around the keywords that use the OR operator.

Example:

ethics AND (cloning OR stem cell research)

(ethic OR moral) AND (genetic engineering OR cloning)

  1. Enter search terms in the search box, and either press Enter or select Search Search icon..

The Search Results page displays items that match your search terms.

  1. Explore the search results to find items, topics, and people that interest you.
  2. (Optional) Do one or more of the following:

If your library supports interlibrary loan (ILL), you can search other library catalogs and request items to be delivered to your library.

  1. Log in to your patron account.

  2. Enter search terms in the search box, and either press Enter or select SearchSearch icon..
    The items from your library's catalog that match your search terms are displayed.

  3. Click Search other libraries at the top of your search results to run your search in the ILL database.
    This option appears only if you are logged in and your library has interlibrary loan enabled.

  4. (Optional) Select a title to view more details.
    You can check availability, item details, and information on how quickly you can expect to get the item delivered from another library.

  5. Select Request next to the title you want.
    A request form is opened, and the estimated delivery time is displayed.

  6. Follow the prompts to place your request.
    The request is sent to the lending library.

  7. Select Return to catalog to navigate back to your library's catalog.

Interlibrary loan requests are displayed in your Account Portal with an ILL label and a status message. If needed, they can be canceled before they are shipped to your library.

When your library receives the interlibrary loan title, you will be notified that you can pick it up. Upon checkout, the title will be displayed in your Checkouts tab.