Advanced Keyword Search Tips | Examples |
Multiple Words When searching multiple words the system will automatically suppply the Boolean "and" operator between each word; multiple words entered for the search will all occur somewhere in the retrieved records though not necessarily in the order entered. Both examples on the right will retrieve the same results.
Phrase Searches Search for complete phrases by enclosing them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes will appear together in all results exactly as typed.
Wildcards
Boolean Operators Use AND or OR to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use AND NOT to exclude words. Select the operator you wish to use from the selection list on the Advanced Search form.
Proximity Operators The NEAR operator is used to retrieve records that contain the specified words or phrases within ten words of each other in the same indexed field.
The WITHIN operator is similar to the NEAR operator, but allows the user to specify the maximum number of words that may appear between the specified words. WITHIN 10 and NEAR are equivalent.
Field Limits Field limits may be specified by selecting a field limit from the selection list in the form above. These limits appear before the word or phrase to be searched. A field limit causes the system to search only the specified field for the specified word(s).
Grouping Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance to bring the most likely titles to the top of the list. Each group represents a similar level of relevance and results are sorted within the group by date or title. To get an ungrouped result set, use boolean operators to form a complex query.
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Mouse over any of the Tip Headings for exmaples.
Using multiple words:
university science department university and science and department A phrase Search:
"university science department" * Wildcard:
environment* polic* ** Wildcard: comp** ? Wildcard: wom?n Using Boolean operators:
stocks and bonds stocks or bonds stocks and not bonds Using proximity operators:
international near conference fractal within 3 geometry Field Limits and their meanings:
Author:
Search only author fields Title:
Search only title fields Subject:
Search only subject fields Note:
Search only note fields Subject:
Search only subject fields Most relevant titles
Highly relevant titles
Very relevant titles
Relevant titles
Other relevant titles
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