Search

Help searching the Information Resource Centre catalogue

Tips for searching

Searching by keyword: When you type a word in the keyword box, the catalogue is searching a variety of fields (e.g. author, title, subject) at the same time. This is the easiest way to search but because you are searching a number of fields at the same time you may retrieve a large number of records. Searching this way can be imprecise.
To make your searches more precise you can:

Search for specific titles

Enter the title, or as much of it as you know in the box marked title. If you are not sure of the exact title, type a few words separated by the ampersand (&)

Search for works by a specific author

If you know the author's full name, use the format: last name, first name (e.g. Babe, Robert). You can also type only a last name but if more than one author has the same last name, you will find works by all those authors that share the same last name.

Use the Index

The index lets you browse all of the choices available for a given field.

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Search for variations of word

Use the * following a word to find all of its variations. For example, regulat* will retrieve records that contain the words regulate, regulator, regulation, regulations, regulatory, etc.

Search by subject

If you are interested in a particular subject, you can enter it in this box. The CRTC's Information Resource Centre catalogue uses Library of Congress subject headings and Le répertoire de vedettes-matières from Université Laval. Use the Index to locate the exact subject terms.

Combine fields

To the left of each search box, there is a small box that contains the word AND. You can combine fields together to make your searches very precise. Simply enter terms in more than one search box before you submit your search.

Search by proximity

You can search for words that appear a specified number of words apart. For example, to find the word policy within 5 words of the word communication, type: policy w5 communication.

Specify a language

You can search for items in a specific language by choosing an option from the Language box. By default, the database searches for items in all languages.

Specify Canadian items

Canadian items include those works that are about Canada, published in Canada or created by Canadians. To limit your search to Canadian items, click on the LIMIT TO CANADIAN RESOURCES box.  By default, the database searches for all items, not only Canadian ones.

Searching by Date

You can search for items published in a particular year or you can search a range of years. The chart below shows details of the various ways to search by date and date range. Note that there are spaces around the symbols.

Symbol Example Explanation
: 1997 : 2000 Finds items published in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
>  > 1997 Finds items published after 1997; does not include any published in 1997
<  < 1997 Finds items published before 1997; does not include any published in 1997

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Searching French characters (diacritics)

Diacritics are displayed, but are not needed when you search. For example, television will retrieve both television and télévision.

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Case and punctuation

Case is ignored when you search. You can enter any combination of upper and lower case letters without affecting the search results.
Punctuation is ignored except for the symbols used to process searches (& / ! : ). If you want to use one of the four characters and have it interpreted literally, use quotation marks (for example "at&t")

Troubleshooting

I found too many records

If you used an asterisk, omit it and try searching for a more specific term or phrase (for example, search for computer technology instead of comp*)
Add more words to your search and separate them with the ampersand (&)
If you are looking for a term that contains punctuation you can either substitute spaces for the punctuation or put quotes around the term (at t or "at&t")

I didn't get any results

Take a good look at the search form. There may be terms in some of the boxes from a previous search.

If you are not sure of the spelling, use an asterisk after the first few characters (colo*) or separate possible spellings with a forward slash (colour / color)
Use the index to locate terms and paste them into the search.
If you are combing terms, use the symbol &, not the word AND.

If you cannot figure out what is wrong, submit a request to the Information Resource Centre.

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Comments and Questions

Comments and questions are always welcome. Use one of the methods described above to contact us. If your comments require a reply, be sure to include your email address and/or phone number.

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