# Finding Authors: Author fields and Search CABI uses three fields to capture author information AU: Authors ED: Document editor CA: Corporate author It is possible to search each of these fields individually, using the two letter field abbreviation e.g. ***au: "David Smith"*** or ***ed: "David Smith"***** .** In addition, there is a combined field **"Author:"** which enables searching across all three individual fields in one go, e.g. ***Author: "David Smith"*** . Note that the combined field "Author" corresponds to Authors/Contributors in the Advanced Search. Always use quotes around the name terms you wish to find in order to maximise relevant results. When quotes are used around the search terms, the system returns results where all of the name terms appear within a single individual's name entry, even if the terms are only part of the full name. For example, ***Author: "Manuel Delgado"*** may return: ***Manuel Delgado***-Baquerizo Juan ***Manuel*** Vera ***Delgado*** Juan ***Manuel*** Carrión-***Delgado*** **Manuel** Fernández-**Delgado** José ***Manuel Delgado*** Blasco Without quotes around the name terms you wish to find, the search is broader and can return entries where just one of the name terms appears in retrieved records, increasing the likelihood of irrelevant results: e.g. Searching ***Author: Manuel Delgado*** without quotes returns results for *Aurelio Serrano-**Delgado, Manuel** Francisco Aguilar-Jerez* which are irrelevant. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.cabi.org/cabi-digital-library-help/search/finding-authors-author-fields-and-search.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.