Folger catalog search tips

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This article covers search tips for the Folger Shakespeare Library's online catalog. In what follows, we will cover several approaches for searching the catalog, from the least to the most advanced search methods.

How Catalog Searching Works

Library catalogs use structured data to describe items in their collections. As a result of this structure, it is possible to search specific pieces of data across all items in the catalog. For example, catalog librarians always enter the title of an item in a part of the data that is designated as the part for recording titles. This makes it possible for the catalog to offer a search of just the titles across all items in the collection. The following search tips rely heavily on the idea of being able to search discrete pieces of data across most items in the catalog.

Simple Search Tips

If you enter your search term(s) in the search box, the catalog will look for the search term(s) in all parts of all records in the catalog. This can be useful if you are looking for a term that will probably not show up in many catalog records. As an example, this search for shirt only has a few dozen results.

Where the simple search is usually not helpful is when you are searching for a term that is likely to show up frequently in catalog records. At the Folger, doing a simple search for Shakespeare is usually not helpful because that term shows up in tens of thousands of catalog records. If you're interesting in searching for works by or about Shakespeare, see below for some search tips.

Searching within a Collection

Underneath the search box, there are collections of records that are broken out by year of creation or publication, format, or other grouping. Before starting your search, you can select one of those collections or sub-collections. This will take you to a new page with a new search box, where you can search just within that collection.

Under the Books & Serials collection, you will find three sub-collections that may require some explanation:

  • Incunabula - comes from the Latin for 'cradle', referring to the very beginning of printing. These are works published until 1501.
  • STC imprints - refers to works listed in Pollard, A.W. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 (2nd ed.).
  • Wing imprints - refers to works listed in Wing, D.G. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English books printed in other countries, 1641-1700 (2nd ed.). Wing picked up where Pollard's STC ended.

Refining Search Results

Facets

Whenever any search is finished, the search results page provides a number of options for refining the search results. In the left column, there will be facets for refining search results based on Name, Subject, Genre/form, Place created, Language, and Item Location. A few these facets warrant further explanation:

  • Name - The Name may be the author of a work, but it could also be a name associated with the work that is not the author. As an example, we regularly record the former owners of items in the collection, when they are known. Former owners will show up in the Name facet. So will other associated names such as illustrators, printers, correspondents, and the like.
  • Subject - This is a list of terms indicating what an item is about. A few examples of subject terms are Advertising, Cooking, Horse racing, and Religion.
    • Note that a person can be a subject, too, if the work is about that person. We have quite a few works that are about Shakespeare, for example.
    • Note that a work can also be a subject. For example, books about Shakespeare's play Hamlet will have Hamlet as a subject. Note that when the title of a work is used as a subject, it is usually preceded by the author's name. This is important for works by Shakespeare! If you want to use a subject facet for Hamlet, you need to look in the subject facet for "Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Hamlet"
  • Genre/form - This a list of terms indicating what an item is. A few examples of genre/form terms are Advertising fliers, Ballads, Broadsides, and Edicts.
  • Item Location - this is a useful facet if you want to restrict your search to physical items in our collection, or items that are available online. While we are closed, we have three Item Location facets:
    • Vault - these are physical items that would normally be available through our Request System to be consulted in the Reading Room. That is, Readers are not able to retrieve these items on their own; staff retrieve them from vault storage and bring the items to the Reading Room.
    • Not-vault - these are physical items that would normally be in our Open Stacks collection or shelved in the Reading Room for quick reference. Readers are able to browse these shelves and retrieve these items on their own, without staff intervention. (Although we're always happy to assist when needed!)
    • Online - these are digital items that are only available online. Sometimes these items are publicly accessible to anyone; sometimes they are limited to registered users.
    • Please note: if you select 'Vault' or 'Not-vault', you may still find that the 'Online' item location remains in the left column. Why? Because some items in our catalog are physical items that we own and we have digitized those items and made them available online. Such items are therefore categorized as both physical (Vault or Not-vault) and online. Similarly, if you select 'Online', you may still find that the 'Vault' or 'Not-vault' item locations remain in the left column. That is because the item is available online, but is also available onsite in a physical copy.

Options for Sort, Display, Collections, and Format

There are additional tools for refining search results. Once a search is run, an 'Options' button will appear immediately below the 'Search' button, like so: File:Options.png

If You Need Help Finding Anything in the Catalog

Sometimes the best way to search a library catalog is by asking a librarian for help! We know our collections well and we also know about past cataloging practices at our institution - two things that put us at an advantage when doing searches. Please contact reference@folger.edu so that we can assist you with your search.

If you think you've found incorrect information in the catalog, or you have a question about why something is described in a particular way, please feel free to email [[1]].