Searching the catalogue

Quick search

The main search box lets you search on keywords from any field. They will be combined with AND

For more precision, change the drop down index to the field you need. More fields are available under Advanced Search

Advanced Search

Use this page to add multiple boxes, specify fields and years, and add AND, OR or NOT to join single terms

It's useful for adding phrases from different fields together It works best when it's the same conjunction. Don't use quotes or brackets!




Boolean and brackets


To add terms with AND - just add them in the same search box eg Hayes Family Matters 2013 divorce

Use the Advanced Search to specify field names and phrases. If you want to use both AND and OR, the search order is (First Box or Second Box) and Third Box. For example, for books by Smith about either cats or dogs:



To use brackets for nested searching, use field codes and a single box. For example, that search again:



     A book chapter by Rae Kaspiew or Rachel Carson on relocation disputes
     (au:kaspiew OR au:carson) AND su:relocation AND itype=chap

     Anything written by Alan Hayes in the last 2 years that mentions children or young people
     au:hayes AND (kw:child* OR kw:adolesc* or kw: teen*) AND yr:2022-2023

     Anything written or published by AIFS about the BNLA study
     (au,phr:australian institute of family studies OR pb,phr:australian institute of family studies) AND su:BNLA

Common fields include title (ti), abstract (ab), subject (su), author (au), series (se), pb (publisher) and general keyword (kw). Use 'phr' for phrases and quotes, eg. su,phr:at risk children. You can use capitals or lowercase, or colons or equal signs.

Codes and rules


For truncation, use the asterisk, eg. parent* finds parent, parents, parental, parenting, etc

For quotes and phrases, use the drop down search indexes, not punctuation

For boolean searches and brackets, use separate fields in Advanced Search or use codes. Otherwise, NOT and OR are just normal words you can search on.

Author searches: in general, put the surname first, eg. Stone Sharman. The search boxes add AND between words, so you can add authors in a row, eg Hayes Higgins or Hayes Alan Higgins Daryl

Advanced options – options like fuzzy logic, spelling suggestions, and subject areas are available within the system, but we have currently turned them off while the data is being cleaned.Searching for AIFS content


Narrow down your results with limiters/refinements


After you search, you can narrow down your results by adding additional keywords in "edit your search"



You can also click on the left hand "refine" option for common authors, topics, and formats found within your results. You can also search by item format and date when constructing an Advanced Search.