FYE: Search Tips

Truncation

• Use a Question Mark (?) or an Asterisk (*)
• Truncation allows you to search for a term and its variations by entering a minimum of the first three letters of the term, followed by a question mark (?) or an asterisk (*).
• E.g. When searching for anything regarding Libraries, Librarian, Librarians, or Library, search using Librar*

Wildcards

• Use a Pound Sign (#) 
• The Pound Sign, also known as a Number Sign or Hash Mark, can take the place of a single character
• E.g. when searching for all terms regarding woman or women, use wom#n

Phrase Searching

• Use Quotation Marks " "
• A phrase search uses quotation marks to allow an exact match to the phrase searched
• E.g. Searching for - Bible Study - delivers 8,794* results; Searching for - "Bible Study" (using quotes) - delivers 992* results

*Numbers subject to change as our collection changes, used for example only.

Nesting

• Use Parenthesis ( )
• A keyword searching technique that utilizes parenthesis to clarify relationships between search terms. These terms are searched first. Usually linked with Boolean operator "Or"
• E.g. Using (Iraq OR Kuwait) AND oil - will search Iraq or Kuwait first, then look for results including oil.

Field Searching

• Use au: (author); ti: (title); su: (subject).
• Search for Title, Author or Subject by placing the abbreviated field search in the search bar
• E.g. Searching for - au: J.K. Rowling - will give you all materials where Author is matched to J.K.Rowling. 

AND, OR, NOT = Intersection, Inclusion, Exclusion