The library's OneSearch tool combs through a broad array of resources, including materials physically housed at all of the UH campus libraries (from the Big Island to Kaua'i), and electronic resources in all kinds of online spaces. Because of this, searching can be overwhelming at first. One way to think about your searches is to cast a wide net and then narrow the results down by using various filters that are found on the left side of the search results. Specifically, when you are looking for children's books, you can quickly narrow search results down by first selecting "books" from the list of Resource Types, and then using the Location filter to narrow to either Pacific, Pacific (Library Use Only), Hawaiian or Hawaiian (Library Use Only). Pro tip: The locations Pacific and Hawaiian (without "Library Use Only") will display only books that can be checked out of the library. The locations Pacific (Library Use Only) and Hawaiian (Library Use Only), will display all books in the Pacific or Hawaiian Collections that match the search terms you're using.
Keyword Searching
Using keywords casts the broadest possible net, and among keyword searches, the broadest possible searches are for terms like Juvenile Literature or Children's Literature or Juvenile fiction.
By book type or reading level
In some cases, you can search by the type of book you are looking for -- Board Books are for young children, who may or may not yet be reading themselves. Readers are books aimed at children in early literacy (or others seeking to study or learn indigenous languages). Young Adult books are a mix of more standard novels (that is, with no or limited illustrations) and heavily illustrated graphic novels. These searches tend to work better when you search in the "subject" field of OneSearch, using the setting "subject contains." For example, this link will take you to a list of board books held by the Pacific Collection. This link will take you to a list of readers held in the Pacific Collection. Pro tip: You can also limit books by language using the search filters. For instance, this link will take you to readers in Samoan.
By Geography
If searching using OneSearch for the stories of a particular place, use the following keywords, combined with the name of the country/territory/people. For instance: Folklore Samoan or Micronesia mythology. Add the term "juvenile" (Folklore Samoa Juvenile) to narrow these searches down to Young Adult and Children's literature.
By Deity
Sometimes, a deity name is unique enough to search on its own, or in combination with one of the terms above. For instance, Tangaroa myth. In other cases, you may need to be more specific. For instance, searching only for "Maui" will not be very effective. Try instead searching for Maui deity juvenile or Maui Polynesia legend or etc.
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