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Search Methods |
Description and Usage |
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Subject Headings |
Use Subject Headings Search when you have a specific research topic in mind and you want to use a subject index to quickly locate articles related to that topic. |
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Keyword |
Use Keyword Search to locate articles based upon your own combination of key words and phrases using Boolean operators or Natural Language. (i.e. Is there life on other planets?) |
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Advanced |
Use Advanced Keyword Search to search multiple fields, including full text, title and author. In addition, the almanac and encyclopedia can be searched with the main article database. |
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Subject Tree |
Use Subject Tree Browse to browse a category for a possible research topic or to narrow down a general topic. Locate articles by exploring categories, topics and subtopics in a multi-level subject tree. |
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Search |
Meaning |
Examples |
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AND |
The AND operator locates articles that contain all of the key words or phrases. |
children AND computers |
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OR |
The OR operator locates articles that contain at least one of the key words or phrases. |
tornado OR cyclone |
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NOT |
The NOT operator eliminates articles that contain certain key words or phrases. |
basketball NOT college |
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* |
Truncation includes alternate word endings such as plurals and tense variations in your query. |
farm* |
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" " |
Enclose a phrase in quotation marks to find multiple words appearing next to one another in a specified order. |
"affirmative action" |
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( ) |
Boolean searches are conducted in the following
order of precedence (NOT, AND, OR) unless parentheses are used. Use NOT
and OR together to limit your search . |
(dolphin NOT fish)
OR porpoise |
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Putting it all Together |
This is an example of how to locate references to the various earthquake(s) in California or Washington, excluding those in San Francisco. |
(California OR Washington) AND earthquake* NOT "San Francisco" |
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Sorting |
Description and Usage |
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Relevance |
Articles containing the highest number of key words or phrases are returned first. |
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Date |
Articles dated most recently are returned first. |
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