Modern Languages

Search It

Use Search It to find books owned by K-State Libraries.

Enter title, author, or keywords in the Search It box in the middle of the Libraries home page.

Click the K-State Libraries only tab on the search results page to only see items owned by K-State.

If we own the title, Search it will tell you if it is available and where to find it.

• Some books are e-books and may link to a database instead of showing a call number and location.
• When you find a relevant book, follow the links for Subjects (under Details) to find similar books.
• When you find a relevant book, look at the books shelved next to it—they should be on the same or similar topic.

WorldCat

Use the database WorldCat to find books owned by libraries around the world. Usually we can borrow a copy from another library for you through Interlibrary Loan.

In both Search It and WorldCat, use broad search terms like the author, title of the work, or genre. They do not search the full text of a book, just information about the book.

Search It and WorldCat provide options to search for materials written in specific languages.

Search It

Advanced Search

• Click the Advanced Search link to the right of the search box in Search It  and click on the K-State Libraries only button
• Enter your search term(s)
• Select the language of your choice from the drop-down menu to the right of the search terms boxes
• Click Search - all results should be in the selected language

Refine My Results

If you have already entered a search, refine the search results to only see works in a particular language:

• scroll down the page until Language appears as an option on the left side of the screen
• click on the language of your choice - the screen will reload
  • if the language of your choice is not shown, click on More options to see more languages

WorldCat

Advanced Search

• Choose the Advanced Search tab
• Enter your search term(s)
• Select the language of your choice from the drop-down menu below the search terms boxes
• Click Search - all results should be in the selected language

When searching for an original work or text, like Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, you will often see false hits such as works with similar titles or criticisms of the work. 

Use these strategies to focus your results in order to find the actual text of the work:

Search for an original work with an author

Search It

Use the Advanced Search screen to limit your search terms to fields like Author or Title.

Click the K-State Libraries only tab to limit your results to materials owned by K-State Libraries.

For example, when searching for a copy of Much Ado About Nothing, entering Shakespeare in the Author/Creator field means that the only results you will see must have Shakespeare as the author.

Tip: Shakespeare still gets author credit for films and musical works based on his writing, so you may still see false hits, just fewer of them.

WorldCat

The author and title options appear on the basic search screen, the screen that appears when WorldCat opens.

Use quotation marks around a title of a work to force WorldCat to search it as an exact phrase.

For example, when searching for James Baldwin's Go Tell it on the Mountain

• Enter Baldwin as the author
• Enter "Go tell it on the mountain" as the title.

Search for anonymous original works

In Search It and WorldCat, use the title search and add a keyword or two to describe a unique feature of the work.

Tip: The Literary Reference Center database is a good source of information about classic works.

For example, when searching for The Pearl, add the term middle English to your search. Also try the term Gawain, as the author is sometimes referred to as Gawain Poet.

When searching for a specific edition or translation of a work, add the editor, translator, or series title to your search.

For example, if you are searching for the Yale Shakespeare edition of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in Search It:

• use the Advanced Search screen
• click on the K-State Libraries only tab
• Enter: Shakespeare as the author/creator, Much Ado About Nothing as the title, and Yale Shakespeare in the third box, keeping the any option

• There are 20 versions of Much Ado About Nothing grouped together. Click on the tab View 20 versions.

• The versions are shown with the most recently published at the top of the list. Click Sorted by: and select Relevance

The sought for edition should appear at the top of the results list.