ESTC stands for “English Short-Title Catalogue,” which
is an online database that aims to identify all the titles published
in any language in Great Britain and its colonies or in English
anywhere in the world from ca. 1473 to 1800. There are currently
over 460,000 records available for searching.
Searching can be done in
two modes. The first mode is the simple search:
This advanced searching mode allows you to search with Boolean
operators (AND, OR, AND NOT) and keywords or by limiting the search
to the various fields within each record such as author, title,
subject, imprint year, imprint word, general notes, locations,
etc. You may also use truncation in a search by using the question
mark (?).
Obtaining
the Text
When you want to obtain the
full text of the records you retrieved while using ESTC, you should look
in the “Notes” field of each record. If the notes field mentions the word
“microfilm,” then we may have it in our collection, which is located in
the Microtext Reading Room. You will need to know the reel number as well
as the item number to locate it on microfilm. The following are examples
taken from records from ESTC:
Notes: Microfilm. Woodbridge, CT Research
Publications, Inc., 1983. 1 reel ; 35mm. (The Eighteenth Century
; reel 437, no. 10)
In this sample record you would locate “The Eighteenth
Century” collection, locate microfilm reel 437 and then look for item number
10 on that microfilm.
Notes: Microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms
International, 1949. 1 microfilm reel; 35 mm (Early English books,
1475-1640: 379:25)
In this sample record you would locate “The Early
English Books, 1475-1640” collection, locate microfilm reel 379 and then
look for item number 25 on that microfilm.
Should you need help in locating and using
the microfilm, please contact the "Microtext" staff
for assistance. Additionally, you may want to access the
Early English Books Online
to obtain the full text of pre-1700 works.
More Options
There are more options available for searching
and displaying results. One neat feature is the use of Direct
Searching. By clicking on this
icon
you are able to key in search queries with more precision. Using
Direct searching requires the use of command queries. These commands
can be found by scrolling down in the Direct Search web browser
box.
Limiting your results can be done by clicking
on the following icon
after a search has been conducted. This will allow you to limit
your results by date, language, country of publication, and
more.
The ability to sort is a handy function in ESTC. This feature
helps when you are locating something alphabetically or chronologically.
To sort a list of records, you simply click on the Author, Title,
or Year links to sort accordingly.
Should you need more detailed information on the various types
of searches and techniques to obtain results, please consult
the help option by clicking the help
icon.
