How do I search South Caroliniana Library's collections?
Answer
To search the South Caroliniana Library's collections, please start with our online catalog, which can be found on our main webpage.
To search by keyword, enter keywords in the search box and click “search.” Or, you can follow the link below the search box to "Advanced Search." There you will be able to search specific fields within the catalog records and build searches with "AND," "OR," or "NOT."
In your first results page, you may limit your results further to physical and digital items held by University Libraries, including South Caroliniana Library, by clicking the drop-down arrow next to the search box where it says “Articles, Books and More,” choosing “USC Libraries,” and clicking the magnifying glass search icon to refresh your results. Then, if you wish to limit specifically to items within South Caroliniana Library's collections, click the checkboxes to choose all locations that have "South Caroliniana" as part of their name under the "Location" menu (at the left of the screen on a computer or under the filters icon on your phone). This may not seem intuitive, but choosing locations containing "South Caroliniana" returns a complete set of South Caroliniana Library materials, while choosing "South Caroliniana Library" under "Library" does not always return a complete set.
There might be materials within South Carolina Political Collections or Oral History related to your topic as well. To include these in your catalog search results, please choose "South Carolina Political Collections" or "Columbia Oral History" as locations. Note, if there are no search results within these locations, the option to select them will not appear.
To point out a particular collection or item in a collection found in our catalog, we recommend including the Permalink. From the catalog record, click the "PERMALINK" icon under "Tools." Then copy and paste the link into your email.
In addition to searching our catalog, you can search finding aids to many of our larger collections in ArchivesSpace. You can search all repositories or limit to specific repositories, such as the South Caroliniana Library, South Carolina Political Collections, or Oral History. Here, rather than finding a permalink to copy and paste, copy instead the URL from the address bar of your browser and paste it into your email.
We also have online South Caroliniana Library Digital Collections, South Carolina Political Collections Digital Collections, Oral HIstory Online Collections, and the Historical Newspapers of South Carolina.
If you have questions, please contact us.
Please also see "How can I see collection materials from South Caroliniana Library?"