Wednesday, June 27, 2007

SEARCHING TIPS

SEARCHING TIPS

Combining Search Terms

You may combine keywords and fields using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT.

AND

When you combine keywords with AND in a full-text search, you find all instances of items (articles, titles, reviews, etc.) in which both keywords appear. When you combine search terms, your search results will be more precise

You can also explicitly denote a Boolean AND in the following ways:

cat AND dog

OR

Using OR between keywords allows to you find all articles which contain either keyword. To search for documents containing one or more of your search terms, use OR. For example:

cat OR dog

will search for instances of items that contain either the word cat, the word dog, or both.


Using Parentheses for Grouping

Parentheses allow you to determine the order in which terms will be combined. Thus the query: "currency reform" AND (russia OR "soviet union") will search for items that contain the phrase "currency reform" and that contain either russia or "soviet union".

Why Use Grouping?
Without grouping parentheses, the query "currency reform" AND (russia OR "soviet union") will be interpreted as "currency reform" AND russia OR "soviet union", which returns items containing either both of "currency reform" and russia or containing "soviet union". By using parentheses, you can carefully control the grouping of search terms.

Additional Examples:

(finch OR sparrow) AND exotic will search for documents that contain the word exotic and either the word finch or the word sparrow.

(birds OR butterflies) NOT sparrow will search for documents that contain either the word birds or butterflies and do not contain the word sparrow.

birds NOT (sparrow robin) will search for items that contain the word birds but do not contain both the words sparrow and robin (remember, a space between terms defaults to an AND operator).

birds NOT (sparrow OR robin) will search for items that contain the word birds but do not contain either of the words sparrow or the word robin.


Wildcards

Wildcards can be used to represent one or more characters in a search term. A question mark (?) can be used for single character searching and an asterisk (*) can be used for multiple character searching. Wildcards are typically used to search for alternate spellings of the same word and to search for variations on a root word. Please note, wildcard characters cannot be used in place of the first letter of a word and cannot be used within an exact phrase search.

Single Character
Using a question mark (?) wildcard allows you to replace zero or one letter(s) in a word. A search query with the term te?ts will find the words tets, tents, tests, texts, and any other five-lettered words that start with te- and end with -ts.

Multiple Character
You can use an asterisk (*) to match more than one letter. A search on bird* will find bird, birding, birdman, birds, and other words that start with bird-.

Wildcard characters may be used in a field search: au:sm?th or ti:shakespeare*

Other examples:

organi?ation will search for articles containing organization or organisation.

behavior* will search for articles containing words starting with behavior-, such as behavior, behavioral, behaviorist, behaviorism, or behaviorally.

p*diatric residency statistics will search for articles containing pediatric or paediatric and the terms residency and statistics.

wom?n AND "science education" will search for articles that contain the phrase science education and also contain woman or women or womyn.

(novel& or fiction) AND feminis* will search for articles that contain words that start with feminis- (e.g. feminism or feminist) and also contain novel or novels or fiction.

NOTE: The closer to the start of a term the wildcard appears, the longer your query will take to process. Using multiple wildcards within a single search term will also result in longer search times.

1,007 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   1001 – 1007 of 1007
Anonymous said...

The prices vary among health insurance companies.
That recommended to eat plenty of vegetables instead
of subject product.

Visit my website - pozycjonowanie

Anonymous said...

It is preferred to break the call into small work areas and translate every last section separately.
Pc or google tv of this software works stage ideal.

Also visit my site: pozycjonowanie

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I found your site by way of Google while searching for a similar subject, your web site got here up, it seems to be good.
I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hello there, simply become alert to your blog thru Google, and found that it's really informative. I am gonna be careful for brussels. I will be grateful if you happen to proceed this in future. A lot of people will likely be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!

Also visit my page; website ()

Anonymous said...

When you are unquestionably concerned about the environment,
you can use a solar panel.

Feel free to visit my page; pozycjonowanie

Anonymous said...

With make solar panel and after that then installing an
same may seem like an engulfing task.

Feel free to visit my homepage: pozycjonowanie

Anonymous said...

Indigenous Americans: Shouldn't a government help Indigenous peoples? Find out if there is a nearby where the lawn is greener.

My blog :: pozycjonowanie

Anonymous said...

Hi Dear, are you actually visiting this web page on a regular basis,
if so after that you will definitely get pleasant experience.


Also visit my page: juice fast weight loss

«Oldest ‹Older   1001 – 1007 of 1007   Newer› Newest»

Twitter