Writing 120P: Language and Identity

Getting Started

The Advanced Search interface in Catalyst gives you many more options for creating a precise search. You can limit your results to a particular material type (book, CD, DVD, etc.), language, or range of publication years.

Search Tips

Use a keyword (also designated "All Fields") search if you aren't looking for a specific book, or if you wish to combine multiple ideas.

• friendship AND adolescence

Use an asterisk (*) to search for various endings of a word.

• friend* will find friends, friendly, friendship, etc.

Use "quotation marks" around words that you want to keep together as a phrase.

• "United States"

Subject Headings

Skim the list of search results. Once you find a book that seems relevant to your topic, click on its title. You'll see the catalog record that lists information about the book, including subject headings. Every book in Catalyst is assigned subject headings. Here are some examples of subject headings - they are linked up with the advanced search so that you can use them right from here:

• English language -- Dialects 

• English language -- Social aspects -- United States 

• English language -- Spoken English -- United States 

• Language and languages -- Variation 

• Linguistic geography 

• Americanisms 

• Black English