Online Writing Guide

Also see GMU Library Resources and information about
databases you can access via your GMU library account.

Search for GMU Library Catalog for GMU holdings of books, periodicals, media and other resources Boolean operators are also used by other databases.
Search Options	Description	Example
Word and keywords	+ for essential terms * for important term " quotation marks for specific phrases	computer + viruses "Star Spangled Banner"
Title / Author / Subject	If you know the author, for example, a search of the name will bring up all books by that author.	title: Metaphysics of virtual reality author: heim michael subject: virtual reality
Guided Search	Use boolean operators like: AND, OR, NOT. Drop box choices include publisher's name, publication date, author, title, subject, ISBN.	computers AND viruses Shakespeare NOT MacBeth
Advanced Search	Use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine topics. Use CAPITAL letters. "Nest" your search terms with parentheses: ( ). You can also use quotes ( " " ) and ? to truncate a word root.	Comp? AND ( y2k or "Year 2000" )
Truncated search	will call up all items with the same word root	comp? will return computer, computation, for example