Advanced Search: Help

The Advanced Search option can be used to create simple or complex search strategies with keywords that can be located anywhere in a catalog record, or restricted to areas such as author, title, or publisher information. It is similar to selecting the Keyword (MUST use and/or/not or " ") option from the Simple Search screen, except that you do not include Boolean search operators in your search statements. Instead, a drop-down menu provides options to include all of the search terms, any of the search terms, or to treat the search terms as a phrase. A second drop-down menu enables you to specify whether the keyword(s) can be located anywhere in the record, or only in specific fields. The truncation sign, ?, can be used in entering keywords.

Advanced searches can be limited by selecting from More Limits; however, these limits must be selected prior to entering the search statement(s).

To use the Advanced Search option:

1. Enter a search terms or terms in the Search for box:

 2. From the menu on the right of the Search for box specify how the terms are to be related.

       Examples:                  

If you enter civil war and select all of these, only records that contain both the words civil and war will be retrieved.

If you enter civil war and select any of these, only records that contain either civil or war will be retrieved.

If you enter civil war and select as a phrase, only records that contain the phrase civil war will be retrieved.

3. Use the Search in menu to indicate whether the search string can be found anywhere in the record, or only in specific fields, such as title, author, genre, etc.

 4. (optional) To combine the first search string with a second (or third) search string, complete the additional Search for box, selecting an operator: AND, OR, NOT (See Boolean Searching Help) to indicate how the terms are to be combined.

 5. Click the Search button to complete your search

Remember to use ? in order to truncate words:

e.g. comput?

retrieves: computer, computers, computing

Keyword Indexes can also be used in Advanced Search to make your results more precise.