It is possible to do a quick and dirty, one box keyword search of the contents of the MSU Libraries' web site, starting at the top left of the Libraries' home page. The results will be sorted into several categories to follow up on: articles from journals, books/media from our online catalog, databases, library research guides like this one, other. To do a more traditional search, read on.
Our Books and Media (online catalog) may be searched by keyword (any word that might be in a book's title or bibliographic entry), by specific book title, by author (last name first), or by subject heading. Areas of the stacks can be browsed by call number on your computer.
Following a productive keyword search, click on one or more of the subject headings near the bottom of the record to find more books on that subject.
Subject headings come from a set of fat red books in the Reference collection, at Z 695, of the Main Library. Subject headings are standardized words and phrases assigned to each book when it is cataloged; they describe a book or electronic resource's contents intellectually, whether those words actually appear in the title or not. To do a subject heading search, click on Books and Media on the Libraries’ home page under the one box search, at the left side of the page. Then click on "Subjects" from the "Other Catalog Searches" list in the middle of the screen. Here are some useful subject headings for topics related to the Holy Grail:
Action and adventure films
Action and adventure television programs
Alchemy
Arthur, King
Arthur, King—in literature
Arthur, King—in motion pictures
Arthur, King--legends
Arthurian legends
Arthurian romances
Bran, son of Llyr
Brown, Dan
Chivalry in literature
Chretien, de Troyes, active 12th c.
Comparative literature—themes, motives
English language—Middle English (1100-1500)
Fisher King (motion picture)
French poetry—to 1500
Galahad (legendary character)
Grail—legends—history and criticism
Grail—romances—history and criticism
Grail in motion pictures
Historical television programs
Idylls of the King
Indiana Jones films
Joseph, of Arimathea, Saint
Knights and knighthood in literature
Lancelot (prose cycle)
Last Supper
Literature, medieval—history and criticism
Mabinogion
Malory, Thomas, Sir, active 15th c. Morte d’Arthur
Medievalism
Medievalism in motion pictures
Middle Ages--legends
Middle Ages in motion pictures
Merlin (legendary character)
Mordred (legendary character)
Mythology, Celtic
Mythology, Welsh, in literature
Perceval (legendary character)
Robert, de Boron, active 13th c.
Romances, English—history and criticism
Rosecrucians
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1828-1882
Quests (expeditions) in literature
Quests (expeditions) in motion pictures
Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892
Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883. Parsifal
Welsh literature—1100-1400—history and criticism
Wolfram, Von Eschenbach, active 12th c.
