When you are in the Academic Search Premier, the search screen looks like this:
Type your search in the box and click the button labelled "Search" to proceed.
Academic Search Premier uses the same search connectors as the online catalog, so you can often use a successful online catalog search strategy in this index as well. But you have to remain flexible! If a search worked well for you in the online catalog, but does not seem to be working in Academic Search Premier, try a new approach. Playing around with different keywords, related concepts or synonyms might help you find what you need.