Help Centre: Overview

Search Hints & Examples

Anyword or phrase

Type the word you want to find (methamphetamine) or type a phrase (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in to the "Anyword or phrase" search box to find those words in that order.

To find variations of words, type an asterisk at the end of a word stem (sexual behavio*).

Use the symbols & / ! between words or phrases to represent Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT. Include a space before and after the symbol.

Use the proximity operators w# (within) and p# (preceding) to find words near each other. See the examples below.

Words joined by & / ! are evaluated in left-to-right order. For example, red & white / blue finds index items that contain "red" and "white", or items that contain "blue". Use parentheses to control evaluation order: For example, red & (white / blue) finds index items that contain "red" and "white" OR "red" AND "blue".

Advanced Search

To begin searching, select one of the "Browse Index" buttons to the right of the field in which you wish to search. A pop-up box will be generated. If you know the name of the item, enter it into the search box (Find matches as you type). If you do not know the exact term in one of the pop-up "Browse Index" boxes, you may also enter one or more letters in a string and the "Find" tool will locate the closest match; e.g. entering 'c' will bring you to the first 'c' in the list.

As you type, the results which most closely match your search term will be displayed (you may also browse the list for the item by using the arrows below the scroll). Move your cursor to the item you wish to search for (a green flag will move into the corresponding row). Select the item by left-clicking your mouse. The item you selected will displayed in the selections area toward the bottom of the box and will be prefixed with an equals sign (=). Pressing "close window" at the very bottom will close the pop-up box. Your search term will be populated in the search box on the Advanced Search page. To complete the search, select the green "Submit Search" button on the top or bottom of the screen.

If you do not know the exact term in one of the pop-up "Browse Index" boxes, you may also enter one or more letters in a string and the "Find" tool will locate the closest match; e.g. entering 'c' will bring you to the first 'c' in the list. You may then complete the search as described above.

In addition to the advanced searches described previously on the Search Help page, namely:

• Searching using more than one term in any one field
• Combining fields to perform a search

You may also combine the "Anyword or phrase field" with other fields on any "Advanced Search" page.

Example

Finding a Date

Searching by year of publication is helpful when you want to limit your search results to recently issued materials or to those published within a particular time frame.

To search by year of publication, type the year (e.g., 2001) into the Publication Year search box.

To search by more than one year, separate each year of publication by a slash, e.g., 2001/2002.

You may also use the greater than (>) or lesser than (<) symbols, e.g., >1997 will retrieve records published after 1997.

Case and punctuation

Case in query criteria is usually ignored (a search for content server finds Content Server). Punctuation is also ignored, except for the AND-OR-NOT symbols (& / !) and search symbols (for example, : = < >). If you do not want these characters to be interpreted as search symbols, use quotation marks ("Johnson & Johnson") or replace the punctuation with a space (Johnson Johnson).

Troubleshooting Searches

If you are having trouble with a search, some of the most common problems are listed below. If you do not find an answer to your problem here, please contact us for assistance.

I got the message "Unable to recognize as a correctly formed query."

The program cannot understand the search criteria. Possible problems include:

• Typographical errors
• Mismatched quotes or parentheses
• Extra Boolean search symbols (for example, you should have typed car / auto instead of car / auto / )

If you cannot determine what caused the error, try a simpler search (for example, just a word in a box) to see if it works. You may also use a "Browse Index" pop-up box to construct a query, instead of typing criteria. If even simple searches do not work, please contact us for assistance.

I found too many records.

If you used an asterisk, omit it and try an exact search instead (for example, search for computer technology instead of comp*).

Try using a Boolean symbol (& / !) between words to construct more precise queries. For example, to find articles about mythology, not cartoons, search for hercules ! cartoon.

If the item you are searching for includes punctuation, substitute spaces for punctuation (for example, search for cs textworks, not cs/textworks) or surround the item with quotation marks ("cs/textworks").

I did not find any records.

Examine the contents of the search screen (especially if it is longer than the screen) to verify that you do not have query criteria left over from a previous search.

If you are not sure of the spelling, use an asterisk after the first few characters (for example, colo*) or separate several possible spellings with a forward slash (for example, search for color / colour).

If you did a complex search, try simplifying it to eliminate confusion. If the search screen has a "Browse Index" pop-up box, use it to view and paste items to search for.

If you are trying to find records that contain multiple words anywhere in the record, separate the words with Boolean symbols (& / !). Otherwise, you are doing a phrase search, which finds these words in that order.

If your search includes Boolean symbols (& / !) or range searches (:), put spaces around the symbols.

Do not use words (and, or, not) for Boolean operators. You must use the Boolean symbols (& / !).

Try using / instead of & between words. Using / means either word can be present (john / paul finds John or Paul). Using & means both words must be present (john & paul will not find just "John" or just "Paul").