Public Library eBook Subject Search

[SteveEisenberg]

Am I missing something, or is there no way to do a real subject search for public library eBooks?

To see what I mean, go to New York Public Library eBooks. Or go to http://search.overdrive.com/ and click on "Advanced Search." Yes, there is a pull down menu that allows you to select broad subjects like History or Business. But how would you search for books on, say, one particular country, or one particular war, or on broad topics not on the pull-down list, such as economics? And, is there a way to search by dewey decimal number?

Most libraries still have so few eBooks that my question may seem absurd. But, with any luck, more and more of us will have good enough library access for this to be a problem.

[CWatkinsNash]

I use the category drop-down to specify the general subject, then put the specific topic in the "keyword" spot. Seems to be working for me so far.

[elemenoP]

I am not sure if it will help you or not, but with NYPL, using the regular search interface (rather than the Overdrive one) will also return ebooks:

http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/search

You can do your search and then narrow to ebooks afterwards. I don't know if it will get you better results but try it out?

eP

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

I am not sure if it will help you or not, but with NYPL, using the regular search interface (rather than the Overdrive one) will also return ebooks

Good idea. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but results with that interface do not seem to include OverDrive Kindle format titles. Perhaps the programmers are working on that.

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

I use the category drop-down to specify the general subject, then put the specific topic in the "keyword" spot. Seems to be working for me so far.

Thanks. It isn't ideal, but it's better than before. You did help me to find, at search.overdrive.com, a couple books I'd like to read. One is only available in Abilene Texas, which won't work for me . But another is in the library at the next municipality over, where I have paper borrowing privileges because of being in the same state. I'll have to see if they'll give me a native library card after explaining why.