How to Use the Online Catalog

Power Search

Power Searching allows you to narrow your search to a specific library, area of the library, or to use what you know about a topic to help you find what you need.

To run a power search:

1) Open the Santa Monica Public Library's Online Catalog. You can do this by clicking on the link in the previous sentence or by clicking on , found at the bottom of every page in the SMPL Kids web site.

2) Click on Power Search.

The Power Search window appears.

3a) If you are looking for a book by title or author, type the information in the title or author field.

Note: Does the title of the book, video, DVD or CD begin with any of the words a, an or the? If so, you can drop the a, an or the when you type in the title.

  • For example: If you were looking for the book The Indian in the Cupboard, you would type indian in the cupboard.

Also Note: The online catalog is not case sensitive. You do not need to capitalize any words when typing them into the catalog.

3b) If you are looking for a book on a certain topic, type the keywords in the word or phrase field.

3c) If you are looking for books that are part of a series, such as Goosebumps or Junie B. Jones, type the name of the series in the series field.

To continue narrowing your search:

4a) If you want to see the books available at a specific library branch, select the branch from the library drop-down list.

4b) To see only materials located in the Children's section, select Childrens Area from the location drop-down list.

4c) If you are looking for information in a specific format, such as only books or only DVDs, select the material type you are looking for from the format drop-down list.

5) After you have finished narrowing your search, click the Search button.

In a moment, your results are displayed.

If you do not find the book, DVD, video or CD you are looking for, or if you have questions or are having difficulty, please contact a librarian by e-mail or telephone, or visit a librarian at any of the Santa Monica Public Library locations.

Important: Click on the Details button to verify that the book is available and where it is located. You may need to scroll to the bottom of the page to see this information.

Note: Do not confuse the Details button with the Keep button! The Details button shows you all the information about the item you selected. The Keep button allows you to make a list of interesting items. You can print this list or e-mail it to yourself.