Skip to Main Content

Research Guides

How to use LibrarySearch

A guide to using the University of Toronto Libraries’ search tool

Find specific titles

If you know the exact title of a book or article, enter it in quotation marks (e.g., “The Glass Castle”) to search for that specific item. 

Exact search of "The Glass Castle" indicated in green

If you don’t see the results you expect, try using LibrarySearch’s Advanced Search function with the following settings:  

  • Select "Title" from the first drop-down menu  

  • Choose "Contains exact phrase" from the next drop-down menu  

  • Enter your title phrase   

  • Select your preferred item format (if you have one) 

Title search of The Glass Castle in Advanced Search indicated in green

Search for a Journal or Newspaper by Title

 To search for a journal or newspaper by title:   

  • Select the Journals search menu item from the top navigation bar just below the library website menu.  

  • Type in the journal or newspaper title and click on the search icon.  

  • Click on the title of any results to open a more detailed description of the source. 

Search by PMID or DOI

LibrarySearch allows researchers to retrieve records by entering unique identifiers like DOIs and PMIDs.   

Enter a DOI or PMID into the LibrarySearch box and click the search button. You can search using either the DOI’s unique identifier or as a full link.    

DOI search indicated in green

Or use the Advanced Search function, making sure to set the search filter to “Any Field.”    

PMID search indicated in green