|
Type the keyword(s) in the box below then press Enter or click the Search button. Type the keywords you want to find. For example:
|
| Search Tips | |
| The "Simple Keyword Search" provided on
this page also allows for complex searching using Boolean operators, as described
below. Complex searching is also provided through the Advanced
Keyword Search form. General tips:
| |
| Multiple Words | When searching multiple words, the system will automatically supply 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. |
|---|---|
| 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 | * The asterisk ('*') matches up to five
non-space characters, starting at the specified position in the word. For example,
"inter*" will match "internal" and "internet", but
will not match "international". The '*' wildcard may only appear after
at least two characters. The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.
For example, "colo*r" would match both "color" and "colour". ** Matches any number of non-space characters, starting at the specified position in the word. For example, "comput**" will match all words that begin with "comput" (e.g., "computer", "computation", etc.). ? You may use a question mark ('?') to replace a single character anywhere within a word. For example, "wom?n" will match "woman" and "women". |
| Boolean Operators | Use "and" to specify multiple words in any field, any order, all present in the record. Use "or" to specify multiple words, any present in the record, but not necessarily all. Use "and not" to exclude words. Use parentheses to group words together. For example, "(alaska or canada) and (adventure and not vacation)" to retrieve records in which the word "alaska" or the word "canada" appears with the word "adventure" but not the word "vacation". |
| 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. (The operator "within 10" is equivalent to "near".) For example, "california near university" will retrieve records with the word "california" within ten words of the word "university", and "america within 3 beautiful" will retrieve records with the word "america" within three words of the word "beautiful". |
| Field limits | Field abbreviations may be used to search within specific fields. Use "a:" for author, "t:" for title, "d:" for subject, or "n:" for note. For example, to find the word "bibliographical" in a note, enter "n:bibliographical". |
| Grouping | Keyword search results are 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 relevance, title, or date, depending on what is chosen from the "Sorted By:" drop down menu. To get an ungrouped result set, use boolean operators to form a complex query. |
