ENGLISH SHORT TITLE CATALOG (ESTC) SEARCH GUIDE
September 2003

The aims of the ESTC are to provide a comprehensive bibliography of the printed output of the hand-press era, to list the whereabouts of surviving copies, and to note the existence of facsimiles. 465,000 records with approximately 3,000,000 appended locations are included for works printed in England, in territories governed by Britain, and elsewhere in the world from 1473 through 1800.

Access to ESTC is from the English Library page through the Citrix web server. Software must be downloaded and installed before first use at home or office. Library terminals have the Citrix software loaded.

SEARCH TOOLS:

ESTC opens to the Form Search option.

The Form Search page consists of two parts: A Quick Search box in the upper right hand of the screen and a table with several different search text boxes which allow for multiple search terms. They can be used in tandem or separately, depending on the search. One can search for terms as keywords, publication dates, authors, subject headings, STC numbers, and other fields in the catalogue records.

On the left side of each text box are drop-down menus listing searchable fields (Keyword in Title, Date of Publication, Author), and on the right, Boolean search operators (AND OR).

• To change the field in which to search, click on the "Search in field" drop-down menu and select relevant search field.


• For example, if you wish to look for a record of writings with the term 'faith' in the title, you would click on the drop-down menu, select 'Keyword in Title', and type 'faith' in the text box next to it.


• To find records by STC, Evans, or Thomason references, click on the "Search in Field" drop-down menu and select "Keyword in References." In the search box, type STC, or Evans, or Thomason, followed by a space and the number, e.g. STC 23925 or Evans 37819. If the number contains a decimal, e.g. STC 7225.5, enter it as follows: STC 7225 or STC 7225* or STC 7225 3 with a space in place of the decimal point. Note: Decimal number searches frequently are unsuccessful for reasons that are difficult to discern.


• To find records by "Old STC" numbers, click on the "Search in Field" drop-down menu and select "Keyword in General Notes." In the search box, type the number, e.g. 9350.


• The form has a 'Publication Date' field displayed with two text boxes, one for a beginning year and one for an ending year. Simply fill in these two boxes to search by publication periods.

The Index contains a list of searchable entries in each field and the number of records associated with each term. Use of this option can be useful in searches for identifying a term and its variants.

• For many search terms there may be alternative spellings of words. For example, 'faith' may also have 'faithe', 'fayth', and 'faythe' listed as search terms. The best way to be certain is to click the View Index button and check alternative spellings it may list for a given word. Common variants in old English spelling include:
• 'Y' is sometimes substituted for 'i' (i.e., faith or fayth)
• The addition of an ‘e’ to the end of a word, or the possible omission of it when it should belong at the end of a word. (i.e., faith or faithe)
• ‘W’ is sometimes listed as ‘VV’ (i.e., William or VVilliam, or farewell or farevvell)
• ‘U’ is sometimes substituted for ‘v’ (i.e., advertisement or aduertisement)

When looking at the list of brief entries, double-click on an entry to bring up a more detailed display. It will include the full bibliographic description as well as a source location for it.

To return to the brief list, click on the "Brief Records" icon in the navigation bar.

To return to the Form Search screen, click on the "Form" icon in the navigation bar.

To see Library Codes, click on "View" and click on "All Library Codes."

There are references to Wing, Pollard, Evans, and Thomason sources in many of the records. These names refer to the following sources:

• Pollard:
  Also known as Short-title catalogue (STC). A short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 / first compiled by A.W. Pollard & G.R. Redgrave.
  1st edition: 015.42P76S (Main Stacks)
  2nd edition: 015.42P76S 1976 (Rare Books Library, Reference Library, English Reference)

• Evans:
  Evans, Charles. American bibliography; a chronological dictionary of all books, pamphlets, and periodical publications printed in the United States of America from the genesis of printing in 1639 down to and including the year 1820.
  015.73 EV11941

• Wing:
  Wing, Donald Goddard. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English books printed in other countries, 1641-1700.
  1st edition: 015.42P76Sh (Main Stacks)
  2nd edition: 015.42P76SH (Rare Books Reference, Reference Library)

• Thomason:
  Known as Thomason Tracts. British Museum. Catalogue of the pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts relating to the civil war, the commonwealth, and restoration, collected by George Thomason, 1640-1661.
  Call Number: MICROFILM 942.06 T368 (Rare Books Library [microfilm])