PittCat is the main searching tool for all of the materials owned by the University Library System (ULS), including articles, books, ebooks, journal articles, ejournals, audio and video, digital images, government documents, microfilm and movies.

Search

• Enter your query in the text box in PittCat and press enter or click the green magnifying glass.
• You can choose to search just the Library Catalog.
• In the central panel, you will get search results, ranked by relevance.
• Click on a result for a full view with holding information.
• Add terms to narrow your search.

Refine

• Refine your search results by clicking on any term on the left to focus and narrow your results.
• Refine to Books under Resource Type.
• Refine to your library by clicking it under Library.

Subject headings describe the main subjects or topics covered in a book. All book and ebook items in PittCat are labeled with subject headings to help users quickly find the subjects they need. Searching by subject heading is also a great way to quickly search for specific subject areas. To search by subject heading, use Browse, then select Library of Congress Subject Headings, and enter your term.

The general subject heading for this class could be:

• ROMANTICISM
• CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
• AESTHETICS IN LITERATURE

Because the ULS has such a large collection, subject headings are often broken down into subheadings.  For example:

• ROMANTICISM ENGLAND
• ROMANTICISM ENCYCLOPEDIAS
• CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, AMERICAN HISTORY AND CRITICISM

To find materials on a particular author, search the author’s name by last name first name.  For critical material on that author’s work, look for the subheading CRITICISM and INTERPRETATION.  For example:

• CHANDLER RAYMOND
• JAMES HENRY
• DICKINSON EMILY CRITICISM AND INTERPRETATION