OneSearch

As a Taft College student, you have easy access to all of these great OneSearch resources from anywhere with internet access. When using OneSearch from off-campus, you’ll be asked to login with your Student ID and password before you can access eBooks or full-text articles.  Sign in to OneSearch from the yellow bar at the top of your results page.

Once signed in, you can save records and searches to your favorites by clicking on the push pin icon

You can also check your library account for due dates, fines, or fees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OneSearch brings together most of the databases provided by Taft College Library so you’ve got a world of great information at your fingertips. Use OneSearch, and save search time by skimming and accessing lots of material at once. And remember, if you need help searching, ask a librarian!

How to Search

Searching in OneSearch works differently than Googling. Here are some things to know in order to find what you need in OneSearch:

Keywords

Keywords are the words you type into a search box to search for information on your topic. The words you use to describe your topic may be different from the words used in the library catalog and databases.  For example, people recognize that WWII is commonly known as World War II, but in the catalog and databases the actual subject heading is World War (1939-1945).  Once you discover the subject heading, use that term to locate more resources on that specific topic. 

Boolean Searching

Boolean searching is a logical method of connecting search terms using AND, OR, and NOT (known as "Boolean Operators") to narrow, expand, or exclude information in a search. 

Boolean operators are a set of terms (AND, OR, and NOT) that are used in between keywords and phrases to help create a more precise search. They are used as conjunctions that combine or exclude certain keywords in your search. Think of Boolean operators as instructions that tell a search engine what to do with your keywords. Some search tools need Boolean operators to be typed in all capital letters in order for them to work, so it is a good idea to always type them in all caps whenever you are using them.

Images from “Search Statements” by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries, licensed under CC BY 4.0

AND – If the main idea contains two or more ideas, you’ll want to use AND to combine those terms in your search statement. To look for information about spiders as signs of climate change, you’ll want to have both terms in the search and perform an AND search. That’s what automatically happens in search engines such as Google and Bing unless you tell them to do something different by using OR,NOT, or-.

OR – If the main idea has several synonyms, use OR to combine them. Most search tools search for all terms (AND) by default, so you need to use the operator OR between terms to let them know you want to find any of the terms not documents with all the terms. For instance, in the previous example of Latino small business growth, we would want to also use the term Hispanic.

NOT – If the main idea has a common use you want to exclude, use NOT to exclude that word. For example, if we were looking for information about illegal drug use we would want to exclude prescription drugs from the search results. This is commonly done with NOT or the use of the minus (-) sign. In Google, to exclude a word use-word with no space between the – and the word you want to exclude. If you put a space in there, Google will not exclude the word.(When using some search tools, you have to use AND NOT before the word to exclude it.)

Tips for Success

• Use Keywords: You’ll get better results by only putting the most important words that relate to your topic in the search box; we call these keywords.
  • Don’t search an entire sentence or type in a question.
  • Start your search with just 1-3 keywords and then adjust as needed.
• Spelling Counts: OneSearch isn't as good as Google at correcting your spelling. If you’re using keywords and you get zero or very few results, check your spelling to make sure you got it right.

Narrow the results

Combine keywords and subject headings to narrow your topic.  If you do a search in the library catalog for World War II AND Women, you will get results that include both of those terms. This will help you narrow your search.