Copyright search help

Steps for using the Government copyright site

 

♦Using the Copyright site: https://cocatalog.loc.gov/

♦You can use 'Basic Search' or 'Other Search Options'

♦Basic Search: Enter your keyword/phrase in the box and then click on what you want it to search on. An explanation of each 'search by' option is below the box so read that and choose which one makes sense for what you are looking for.

♦One thing that is handy is if you are looking for a specific phrase you can use double quotes around it so it will only search for that exact phrase.

♦Other Search Options: Put your phrase in the 'Search for' box and then click on the drop down and select 'as a phrase'. Usually you will just leave the 'Search by' to the default 'Keyword Anywhere (GKEY) but you can select anything in the drop down depending on what you are looking for.

♦You can build a more complex search by adding another word/phrase in the second 'Search for' box and clicking on the radio buttons to AND, OR, NOT. Again you can leave the 'Search by' or change it to what you want.

♦Note that there are Search Tips below the boxes so read that information too.

♦This link gives additional information on using the 'Other Search Options' page so check it out too: https://cocatalog.loc.gov/help/buildersearch.htm

♦Quite often it is easier to just put your keyword/phrase in Google's search and be sure to do a second search with double quotes around the phrase. If in the results you see movies, tv shows, songs, books, organizations, brands, sports related sites, etc. basically anything well known then don't use it.

 

Thanks to Rhonda Watters @Merch Nook