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.
Signing into PittCat gives you access to the most results. The sign in option is in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
To begin a search, enter a term in the “search anything” box. You can select Books, Articles, and More to search for items across the entire library system including journal articles, images, ebooks, and more. Use the Library Catalog option to search for items available both electronically and physically in our libraries such as books, videos, music scores and more. The Course Reserves option will help you find materials put on reserve by instructors for a specific course.
The Results Screen shows you a list of items with basic information--click on a title to get a more detailed overview of the item you’ve selected. This detailed view gives you much more information about the item. You can see where the item is located and ways to email or print the record as well as how to cite. You may also see an abstract for the item or a table of contents if available.
You can Refine Your Results by using the menu on the left. For instance, if you want a physical copy of a book, you can choose "Held by library" under Show Only. If you want a digital or e-book copy, choose "Available online."
If Full-Text Content is available, you can get the full-text by clicking on the item title or the "available online" link underneath the description.
You can add Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT) into the Simple Search (the default search box) by adding them in all caps.
Search
Refine
You can search PittCat in many ways including Author/Title/Subject, Simple, and Advanced.
When searching in PittCat:
|
Type of Search |
Search Tips |
Example |
|
Author |
Enter author’s last name first, then first name or initial Omit all punctuation except for hyphenated names |
twain mark or lovecraft h
rhys-davies |
|
Title |
Omit initial articles (a, an, the, der, la, el, etc.) |
catcher in the rye |
|
Journal Title |
Omit initial articles (a, an, the, der, la, el, etc.)
|
new york times journal of abnormal psychology |
|
Subject |
Use Library of Congress or Medical (MeSH) Subject Headings Omit dashes in subject search Use “See Also” and “Notes” to link to additional headings |
english literature 17th century acquired immunodeficiency syndrome |
|
Call Number |
Include periods in call numbers Use a space between the call number and the publication date |
pn1994.m379 1992 |
