Searching for books works the same way as our article databases, the only difference being that books tend to be broader in scope.
If you conduct a search and a book doesn't appear to be immediately related to your topic, look at the record to see why it came up.
It's likely there is a relevant chapter.
BE SURE TO USE CAPS FOR AND OR NOT
AND - searches for books and articles containing both terms. Example: "mind upload" AND immortality
OR - searches for one of the words. Example: "mind upload" OR "whole brain emulation"
NOT - exclude a term. Example: "mind upload" NOT "science fiction"
Parenthetical notes () - excellent for OR or NOT searches. Like a math equation, the database will do this part first.
Example: ("mind upload" OR "whole brain emulation") AND immortality
Quotation Marks ""- Links words together in the search. Works best for phrases or proper names.
Example: "mind upload"
Example: "whole brain emulation"
Warning: You might exclude results. A search for "whole brain emulation" will exclude instances where they just say "brain emulation"
Asterisk * - Allows you to search several word endings at once, without using OR.
Example: immortal* will cover immortal, immortals, and immortality
Example: conscious* will cover conscious, consciousness, consciousnesses, consciously
Warning: You may get unexpected results: Wom* also gives you wombat. philo* will give you philosophy, philosophers, philodendra, philology.
Searching in the catalog works the same as our databases, but note:
Books are broader in scope, so your searches should be broader too.
Example:
(mind OR conscious* OR self) AND (upload OR copy OR transfer) AND (internet OR machine*) may work in a database search
But when looking for books you might try something more general like "whole brain emulation".
Very frequently, your topic will not be the focus of a full book, but will be a specific chapter