What It Does
A keyword search finds words or phrases located in any part of the catalog record.
Because the keyword search is set up to look for any of the words entered, and because of the size of the NLS database, keyword search results can be imprecise. The system uses a relevancy algorithm to evaluate each record that the search finds and ranks it according to a perceived relevance to the terms searched. The records are displayed in order of their relevance.
When To Use It
Use a keyword search when it is not clear where words or phrases are likely to occur in the catalog record, when terms may appear in different places in different records, or when there are no results using other types of searches.
Examples
- "collected poe?"
- Finds collected poems and collected poetry
- "eating and drinking"
- Finds that exact phrase. This search is different from the search "eating drinking" and "eating & drinking"
- +canadian !bacon
- Finds records with the word "canadian", eliminating any records that also include the word "bacon".
- "civil war" !fiction
- Finds records with the exact phrase "civil war", eliminating any that also contain the word "fiction".
Tips
Enter words or phrases in any order
It is best to avoid common words, such as articles and conjunctions (e.g., a, the, le, la, das, and, or, und, et), because all words will be searched. Articles and conjunctions are not significant enough to distinguish one record from another.
Use the double quotation mark( " ) to enclose exact phrases, e.g., "talking books".
Note about relevancy. Words and phrases in name, title and subject fields have higher relevancy rankings than words found elsewhere in the catalog record. You can influence the ratings of your search by using special punctuation with search terms. To improve relevancy of results, include as many distinguishing words in the search as possible.
Use special punctuation to refine the search:
- + (the plus sign) in front of a word that must appear
- ! (the exclamation point) in front of a word that must not appear
- * (the asterisk) in front of words to raise relevance
- quotation marks to retrieve exact phrases
Truncation
Use the question mark at the end of a search word for truncation. Use a question mark at the end of a search word for truncation. canoe? will search for canoe, canoeing, canoeist, canoes, etc. Truncation may be included within quoted phrases. "bank? law" for banking law and bankruptcy law.
