Eastern Oregon University

24/7 Chat with a Librarian

Have a question? Need help researching? Not sure where to find what you need? The Library now offers a 24/7 Research Chat service. Ask for help and chat with a librarian using the chatbox on the Library's homepage! https://library.eou.edu/

Primo

About Primo

What is Primo?

Primo is the search tool used to find items in Pierce Library and our partner Summit libraries, as well as some articles and other electronic resources. Primo uses scopes to define where your search is performed. You can select a scope from the dropdown menu to the right of the search box.

scopes

What is included in each Scope?

EOU Library: Books, e-books, audio-visual recordings, maps, scores, microforms, government documents, journals, magazines, and newspapers available on-site at Pierce Library.

EOU + Summit: Everything in the EOU Library list above, plus the holdings of academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest.

Articles, Books, + More: Everything in the EOU Library and Summit lists above, as well as some full-text articles. This scope finds search terms in the full-article content.

Articles Only: Full-text articles from some of the library research databases.

research process

Primo is one part of a complete search

Primo does not contain all of the content from the research databases to which the library subscribes. For subject-specific searching use a database from our A-Z Database List.

To search beyond the holdings of EOU and Summit Libraries you can use Worldcat and SageCat as well as online resources.

Viewing Results and Full Text

After you submit a search you will get a list of results. The brief results include following information for each item: resource type, title, author, date, and availability information or links.

list of results

If the item is electronic such as and article or eBook then you can view the full text of the item by clicking on the “Online Access” link. Some items will open directly, and others will require clicking on the database or website link in the Online Access section.

viewing full text

If the item is available in the library, the location and availability information will be indicated below the title.

If the items is not owned by Pierce Library then you will have the option to request the item. To access this option click on the “Find & Request” link. For more information on requesting items please see How to Request Materials from Library Catalogs.

Search Tips

Searching for a Phrase

To search for a phrase, type quotation marks around the phrase. You can combine both words and phrases in your search.

Note: If you do not enclose the phrase with quotation marks, the system will find items that contain the individual words in the phrase, regardless of whether these words are located next to each other in the order specified.

For example, to search for global warming as one term, type the following in the search box: “global warming”

global warming phrase in search box


Searching for Any Words or Phrases

You can search for items that contain at least one of the words or phrases you type in the search box. To do so, type OR between the words or phrases.

Note: If you search for words or phrases without specifying OR or NOT, the system assumes that you are searching for all the specified words or phrases.

For example, to search for items with the word Irish or the word Celtic, type the following in the search box: irish OR celtic

irish or celtic phrase in search box


Excluding Words or Phrases

You can exclude items that contain specific words or phrases. To do so, type NOT and then type the word or phrase to exclude.

Note: If you search for words or phrases without specifying OR or NOT, the system assumes that you are searching for all the specified words or phrases.

For example, to search for items with the word Celtic and exclude any of these items with the word Irish, type the following in the search box: celtic NOT irish

celtic not irish phrase in search box


Searching Using Wildcard Characters

You can include the following wildcard characters in your searches:

  • ?—enter a question mark to perform a single character wildcard search. For example, type wom?n to search for records that contain the strings woman, women, and so forth.
  • *—enter an asterisk to perform a multiple character wildcard search. For example, type cultur* to search for records that contain strings, such as culture, cultural, and culturally.

Note: The system ignores wildcard characters placed at the beginning of search terms. For example, the system treats the search terms ?aying and *aying as if you had searched for aying.


Grouping Terms Within a Search

You can use parentheses to group terms within a search query. For example, to search for Shakespeare and either tragedy or sonnet, type the following in the search box: shakespeare (tragedy OR sonnet)

shakespeare tragedy or sonnet phrase in search box

Using My Favorites

My Favorites allows you to save and organize items that you find during your Primo session. To access My Favorites, click the “Pin icon” in the top right corner of the page.

my favorites list

Note:You must be signed in to save items in My Favorites for future sessions.

Saving Items to My Favorites

Each item in the search results with have a pin icon to the right of the title. Click on this icon to add items to My Favorites. The icon will change to indicate that the item has been added. To remove the item click on the icon again. add item to My Favorites

Managing My Favorites

To manage your list of favorites click on the pin icon in the top right corner of the page and sign in if you have not already done so. From here you can see all items you have saved to your list, add labels, and sort your items.