QuickSearch Books+ can be accessed directly at search.library.yale.edu/catalog or via the main library web site. This set of instructions will walk you through locating grammars in the catalog.

For this example, we will look for grammars of the Seneca language by typing Seneca grammar into the search box, which is not case-sensitive. On the results page, we see Books+ on the left and Articles+ on the right.

Note that in the results, we are seeing both Seneca the language and Seneca the Roman philosopher/statesman. This is one of the reasons why examining results set and filtering (in this case, by subject) can be important to improve the results set.

Note that on the lefthand side, we can filter by publication date, how recently the item was added to the collection, language, location, and so on. There are also a few subject filters that we can use if we scroll.

Let's look at A Grammar of the Seneca Language, published in 2015. We are now viewing the record page, where we have options for retrieving the book. There is also an option to look for more information on Google Books. Sometimes, the Google Books preview can help you identify specific chapters that are important. Some records have long Notes fields, tables of contents, and so on, but this record is somewhat minimal. When you search All Fields, you're searching whatever is in the catalog record.

At the bottom of the metadata (information about the book), we see one subject term. Some books have more than one, and these are clickable. We can find other items related to the book we are looking at when we click on them. 

Now, when we clicked on the subject term from an individual item record, it took us to something called "Subject with Hierarchy" — which means that the nested structure of Seneca language > Grammar matters. This is what happens when we just click on Seneca language. The results set is slightly broader, and it's all still about the Seneca language.

Another way to search is to use the advanced search, located to the right of the blue search button and the search box. When we do an advanced search for parts of a subject, it will look for the subject anywhere. We have other options here, too, like format and language.

We can construct a search using Boolean operators (see the tab on Boolean for more info) and limit the fields we are searching. Above, I'm looking for anything where grammar and Seneca are the subjects, and I am joining them with the AND operator. This search leaves us vulnerable (again) to results about the Roman man named Seneca.

Finally, here's an example of a record that has multiple subject terms to pick from. Records with longer lists like this one are very useful when you are starting to search, as you can usually find very interesting things through digital serendipity.

HathiTrust digitized items that we have access to are included in QuickSearch, but there is more that you can do on the platform. You can also use it to search beyond Yale Library collections or as a way to (sort of) do full text searching in a book you physically have in front of you. Go to the advanced search and uncheck "full view only" to do that. Keep in mind that many older grammars (before the mid-1920s) are public domain now.

Are you curious about what may exist in library collections beyond Yale? You don't have to use Amazon or similar! Many grammars, even those that are very out-of-print, are in a library collection somewhere. These are excellent candidates for interlibrary loan (ILL) if you need to consult one. Do a keyword search in WorldCat — either the complicated version we have through the library or the simplified, non-subscription, public interface, your pick! — and use the filters on the left-hand side to identify books of interest. After you've double-checked that we don't have it, put in that ILL.