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How Do I Find Books on a Given Subject?

1. Go to MnPALS (the online library catalog), available from the library's homepage.

2. Start by putting your subject words(s) in the Search for: box and selecting "Subject begins with..." from the Select Search Type: dropdown menu. Then click the Search button. This will not take you directly to particular books, but will allow you to look through the list of subjects (subject headings) used in our catalog. If one of the subjects you find looks good, click on it for a list of item(s) that use that subject heading.

3. If this search does not turn up anything you like, try the Advanced Search. Click on the Advanced Search link at the top of the screen in the catalog. On the next page, put your subject term(s) in one or more of the textboxes and choose "Subjects" from the Fields to Search dropdown menus. Click the Go button to complete the search.

Subject searching can be very complicated (but also very powerful) because of the way subjects are entered into the catalog. If you aren't finding any books by searching with a particular subject word or words, that doesn't mean we don't have any books on your subject! Please ask a librarian for help.