A search by document title is the most direct and should retrieve the least records. If you have the exact title, type t = followed by the full title, or the first few words of the title. If you choose to type only the first few words, you may retrieve many more titles, and it may make it more difficult to find the document you need. Also, remember to the word a, an or the if it is the first word of the title.

t=farming
t=farming for clean water in south carolina

Call Number Search

Searching by state document call number is an excellent way to retrieve records of publications of specific agencies when an exact title is unknown. The first line of each call number identifies the specific agency or subdivision of an agency. The second indicates the type of publication, followed gy a cutter number or a date. The third line lists the exact series, volume/issue number, or date. (A fourth line may also be used for a date.) Because of their historical development, some agencies have had several different numbers, and there may be cross references in the online catalog leading the searcher to previous entries.

To search by call number, type co = followed by as much of the number as appropriate. Include all letters and numbers, but omit any punctuation and spacing.

co=c59351 retrieves records for the agency Robert Muldrow Cooper Library, including C5935L 3.N477, Robert Muldrow Cooper Library Newsletter.

Author Search

Searching by author or issuing agency can be quite difficult. If you have the name of a personal author, you may type a = followed by the name of the author, making sure to put the last name first. Corporate author searching is not recommended because of the nature of the entries. When South Carolina is part of the name, it must be typed in full. However, the word department is abbreviated to dept and a search will not be successful unless the abbreviation is used. Agencies or divisions of agencies which have distinctive names without South Carolina are entered under that distinctive name (e.g. john de la howe school). Use of the agency call number is usually more effective than use of the agency name when searching for documents. Consult the publication South Carolina State Documents Classification System (in the Public Documents Office) for more details.

a=south carolina state museum
a=south carolina dept of parks recreation and tourism
a=davies, mark

Subject Search

Subject searches will retrieve state documents as well as other materials in the collection. If you try a general search, it may be difficult or impossible to identify state documents from the initial screen, making further searching necessary. Qualifying your search by adding --south carolina may help to limit your search to South Carolina documents, when those headings are approved.

s=fishing
s=fishing--south carolina

Keyword Search

Keyword searching is the best way to retrieve documents on a topic without knowing the proper subject heading used by our library system. As with subject searching, keyword searching will retrieve all types of materials, not just state documents. Adding the words south carolina (or the name of any agency or agency division) may help you to limit your search to South Carolina documents.

k=audit and clemson
k=south carolina and natural resources and water