To access Browse Search, select it from the dropdown Search menu in the blue bar across the top of the catalog page. (Or click here.)
The Browse Search tool collects items in the catalog into lists of specific headings -- subject, author, publisher, etc. Browsing allows you to scroll through or reposition a list to find a name or term. You can also use an index to list entries beginning, containing, or ending with a letter, keyword, or phrase.
The browse search is especially useful when you are trying to get more information on a subject, but aren't sure just what book will be the most helpful. Making sure the dropdown menu at the top is set to "Subject," type in the subject you are looking for and see what different aspects of that subject turn up. Subject headings are like a more formal version of a tag cloud -- they are assigned by librarians to help you easily see the topics that any given resource covers.
Browsing subjects can be a good way to home in on a specific topic. For example, if you do a simple search on the word “evidence,” the catalog returns nearly 600 results, many of which probably won’t be relevant to what you’re looking for. However, if you do a browse search for “evidence,” the catalog will return this list:
Depending on what aspect of evidence is relevant to your search, you can use this tool to locate helpful resources, rather than trying to sift through hundreds of titles.
Note: numbers along the right-hand side indicate how many resources SOLL has on that subject.
You may notice that this list suggests other search terms that might guide you to the resource you need. As you can see above, if you're looking for information on criminal evidence, you can also click on the narrower subjects of confession or eavesdropping to see resources specifically about those things. Alternatively, some searches may let you know that the subject you are looking for is actually indexed under a different term:
