Discovery Search: Searching

A guide to using VT Libraries' Discovery Search.

Basic search

To perform a basic search, enter your search terms in the main search box (circled below): 

Screenshot of search box on homepage with circle around text entry area

Advanced search

For more search options, click on "Advanced Search," just below the main search box: 

Screenshot of search box on homepage with "Advanced Search" link circled

You'll be taken to a page with three search boxes. You can enter your terms in this box and use the drop-down boxes to choose where Discovery Search will look for them. Note that the default selections in the drop-down boxes include one keyword, one title, and one author, so adjust these as needed: 

Screenshot of advanced search box

Basic Searching

Additional Advanced Search Options

In addition to the terms you add to the boxes, there are other options available from the advanced search screen. Below the search boxes, you can limit to peer-reviewed articles, open access, format, publication year, or whether to include libraries worldwide:

Additional limiters for the advanced search option

You can also select which databases you'd like to search:

Screenshot of database options

While this option is available, we do not recommend using the WorldCat interface instead of the database's interface. If you wish to search only Medline, for example, you should go directly to that database via the databases menu to get the full range of features for that database.