Search Tips
A KEYWORD search looks for the combination of words you specify. It searches various fields: titles, authors, subject headings, contents notes, corporate names, etc.
Multiple Words
Use more words to narrow your search. No need to include AND between words. For example,
- education scotland primary
Phrase Searches
Search for an exact phrase by enclosing it with double quotes. For example,
- "highlands and islands"
- "roman empire"
Truncation and Wildcards
Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk. Use a single asterisk to truncate from 1-5 characters. Use a double asterisk for open-ended truncation. You may also use a question mark to replace a single character anywhere within a word. For example,
- education*
- environment* polic*
- fyodor dost**
- wom?n
Boolean Search Operators
Use OR to broaden your search. Use AND NOT to exclude words. Use parentheses to group words together when using these operators. Although the AND operator is not needed you may use it to clarify your search strategy. For example,
- painting (dutch OR flemish)
- (indian OR pacific) and (ocean life AND NOT mammals)
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. For example,
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. For example,
- fractal within 3 geometry
Field limits
Hint: it is easier to use field limits in an Advanced Keyword Search. A field limit causes the system to search only the specified field for the specified word(s). The following field limits are supported:
| Field limit | Meaning |
|---|
| author: or a: | search only author fields |
| title: or t: | search only title fields |
| subject: or d: | search only subject fields |
| notes: or n: | search only note fields |
| rare: or f: | search only rare book keyword fields |
For example,
|
