in association with Amazon.com

Hello! Welcome to my Search Tips page.

Click on any of these links for help with your searches, or scroll down the page until you find the topic you want:

* General Search Tips
* Children's Book Searches
* Audiobook Searches
* Video Searches
* Searches for Books in Languages Other Than English

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Here is the search engine.

Search Amazon.com's Enormous Book Catalog
Enter Keywords:

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General Search Tips

Enter one or more keywords using any combination of the author's name, the book's title, and/or a subject heading. If you use more than one keyword, the search engine will restrict the results to books that each match all the keywords you enter.

Here are some examples using the search engine:

• Entering "tom clancy" finds books by and about Tom Clancy.
  
• Entering "clancy" finds books by and about Tom Clancy as well as books by other authors named Clancy.
  
• Entering "cardinal kremlin" finds The Cardinal of the Kremlin.
  
• Entering "cardinal" and "espionage" also finds The Cardinal of the Kremlin
  

Searching by subject is at times tricky. Books may be indexed under more than one subject. Some books in the database are not indexed by subject at all.

Finally, it is advisable, although not always necessary, to put quotation marks (") around properties such as titles. Titles (and sometimes authors' names and subject category names) may contain words that are recognized as special. For example, looking for a title that includes words such as and, or, or begins will confuse the search engine unless you put quotation marks around the book's title.

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Children's Book Searches

Here are some of the best ways to use the children's and young adult book search:

• Entering "steam shovel" finds the classic picture book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton.
• Entering "Hans Christian Andersen" finds children's books written by Hans Christian Andersen.
• Entering "board book" finds sturdy books designed for babies and toddlers.
• Entering "pirate" finds a variety of books about pirates for various ages.
• Entering "science" and "Ages 9-12" finds a selection of science books, story books, and even joke books about science--all targeted for 9- to 12-year-olds.

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Audiobook Searches

Enter "cassette" and the last names of favorite authors or words from your favorite titles. If this does not work, try just searching for the title or author. Browse through the search results to see if one of the items listed is an audiocassette edition of the book you want. Entering "cassette" alone will return a very long list of search results, and therefore is not recommended.

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Video Searches

You can link to listings of videos in the catalog with the search engine. If you enter only "video" you will get a long list of search results. You may also try a search using the keyword "VHS". Many instructional videocassettes also carry the subject heading "instruction."

If you are looking for a particular title and searching with one of the above methods does not work, you may want to try just searching for the title; browse through the search results to see if one of the items listed is a videocassette.

Please note that all of the videos sold by Amazon.com follow the 60Hz, NTSC format. This is the video format used in North America. These tapes will not play on most video machines in Europe, Japan, or other countries that use PAL, SECAM, or other video standards.

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Searches for Books in Languages Other Than English

The catalog lists books in languages other than English, and although a large proportion of these are in French or Spanish, a number of other languages are represented.

Because the titles of these books are listed in the language they are printed in, the best search strategy is to enter the author's last name and a word or two from the non-English title. For example, Dr. Seuss' classic Green Eggs and Ham is available in Spanish--it is listed under the title Huevos Verdes con Jamón, and a search for "Seuss Huevos" or "Seuss Verde" will find it. You will also find it on my libros en Español page.

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