Off-Campus Access
Access Problems
Preferred Searches
Renewals
Searching
Search Tips
Advanced Keyword Search Tips
Examples
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. 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
  • *   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.).
    The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.
  • ?   You may use a question mark ('?') to replace a single character anywhere within a word.
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.
Mouse over any of the Tip Headings for examples.
* Wildcard:
environment* polic*
** Wildcard:
comp**
? Wildcard:
wom?n
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
Most relevant titles Most relevant titles 
Highly relevant titles Highly relevant titles 
Very relevant titles Very relevant titles 
Relevant titles Relevant titles 
Other relevant titles Other relevant titles