Brief guide to 

 
Minerva 

 Use the basic commands shown below to search the MINERVA online catalog by AUTHOR TITLE, SUBJECT, or KEYWORD. Use 

 Minerva at any internet-connected computer with a Web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. The Web address 

 is http://minerva.louisville.edu or you can go to the libraries main website at http://library.louisville.edu and click on the Minerva link. 

 

 To Find: Search Tips: Examples: 

 

 AUTHOR 

 

 

 

 

 TITLE 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 JOURNAL TITLE 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SUBJECT 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click on “Author” in the “Find Results in” box 
• Type author’s name (last name first) 
• Click the search button 





 

shakespeare william 

woolf virginia 

thompson h 

 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click “title” in the “Find Results in” box 
• Type as much of the title as you know 
• Be sure to start with the title’s first word! 
• Click the search button 





 

fear and loathing 

romeo and juliet 

scarlet letter 

 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click “journal title” in the “Find Results in” box 
• Type as much of the journal title as you know 
• Leave off initial articles (an, a, the) 
• Be sure to start with the title’s first word! 
• Click the search button 





 

journal of sociology 

newsweek 

new york times 

 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click “subject” in the “Find Results in” box 
• Type an official subject heading (such as 
Library of Congress or NLM) 

 




 

women authors---united states 

business planning 

environment 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 To Find: Search Tips: Examples: 

 

 

KEYWORD ALL 
FIELDS 

(AND,OR,NOT) 

 

 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click on “Keyword All Fields” (and, or, not) in the 


 “Find Results in” box 

• If you have more than one keyword, use and, or, not 
to combine them. “And” combines keywords to search for 

fewer results, “Or” combines keywords that are synonyms

to look for more results, and “Not” will look for the first 

keyword while excluding the second keyword. 


• Click the search button 


 

 

 

nuclear and weapons 

children or adolescents 

(children or adolescents) and drugs

crime not cities 

 

 

KEYWORD ALL 
FIELDS 

(RANKED) 

 

 

• Use Basic Search 
• Click “Keyword All Fields (ranked)” in the “Find Results 
in” box 


• Do not use Boolean connectors (AND/OR/NOT) 
Or little words like of, the, an, etc. 


• Use quotation marks to indicate a phrase 
• Use the plus sign (+) to indicate essential terms 
• Use the question mark (?) to truncate terms 
• Click the search button 


 




 

 

 

 

 

“nuclear weapons” 

 

“nuclear weapons” + destruction 

 

“home school?” 



 

 

• When searching by subject, if you do not find a book on your topic check Library of Congress Subject 
Headings volumes located in the Reference Area of any U of L Library for the correct term or try a 
keyword search 
• Still confused? Ask a librarian! Ekstrom Library Reference Desk 852-6747 


Helpful Hints...