Combination searching for videos and recorded music

"Combination Keyword" searching allows you to combine two or more elements (e.g. author and subject) in the same search. In the last section, we mentioned the problem in finding recorded organ music by J.S. Bach. Let's see how we could search this topic in Bridges.

From the opening search screen, go to the "Guided Searches" section and click on "Keyword". You should see the Keyword Search screen.

In the search box we have entered the author's name preceded by a: and a subject heading preceded by s: First the computer will search for authors (or composers) with Bach, Johann as part of their names. Then the computer will select just those items from the Bach list that are on the subject organ music. Finally, note that the material format is set for "audio, music" since we are looking for recordings.

The abbreviations used in the library catalog are:

• a: to search for an author's name (a:hemingway)
• t: to search for a word in a title (t:sea)
• s: to search for a Library of Congress subject heading (s:organ music)

Remember to follow the a, t, and s with a colon ( : ). If you omit an abbreviation, the computer will do a simple keyword search. You may combine keyword searches with an author, title, or subject search as well (education and a:missouri).

Here is an example of how we would find documentaries on the topic of war.

Let's explore further how to search for videos and recorded music by subject in the next section.