More Search Help:

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Tip Examples
Phrase or Adjacency Multiple words are searched together as a phrase. Word order is very important.

United States supreme court

Phrase If a phrase includes any or all of the following words - and, or, not - then put the entire phrase in double quotes. "now or never"
Common words Common words, such as "of" or "the" are indexed and must be entered in the search statement. Words that are operators, for example and, must be enclosed in quotation marks.

anthropological society of india

oregon "and" washington

1 & 2 letter words 1- and 2-letter words must be entered in the search statement.

vitamin d

c++

symphony in b flat

Truncation & 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" finds "color" and "colour".

femini* finds feminine or feminist or femininity

 

 

**

Use a double asterisk (**) to search for an unlimited number of characters.

The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.

comp** finds computer or computational or computerization or computing

? You may use a question mark (?) to replace a single character anywhere within a word. The question mark must be preceded by at least three (3) characters. wom?n finds woman or women
Boolean Operators and Field Limits
Boolean Operators

Use and or or to search for multiple words in the same catalog record. Word order does not matter when using "and" or "or". And narrows a search by requiring that both words be found, while or broadens a search by looking for any of several words. And not excludes words. Parentheses group words together when using Boolean operators.

sustainable and development

(teach* or instruc**) and japan*

mexic* and not new mexico

Proximity Operators

Use near or within to specify how far apart words can occur. Word order is not specified.

Near retrieves records that contain the specified words within ten (10) of each other.

Use within # to specifiy the maximum number of words that may appear between the specified words. The value of # has no limit.

To use the word near in a search as a term, enclose it in quotes: "near" east

California near university

america within 3 econom*

Search fields

Searching by field limits the search to words found only in specific parts of the citation. Be sure to include the : after the field label.

The following field limits are supported:

Field limit Meaning
a: Search only author fields
t: Search only title fields
s: Search only subject fields
n: Search only note fields

 

a:sarton

t:wallpaper

n:spielberg and s:films

Limits only
Limits only

Use a double asterisk (**) by itself in the first search box, then choose one or more limit options (location, language, material type, publisher or year) to see whole categories of materials.

** and choose Language spanish and Material Type "Video/DVD" to see all spanish-language films and videos

** and choose Material Type "musical recording" and Year After 2001 to see recordings published after 2001


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