Search
Tips |
You can search for items in two ways: Quick
Search and Advanced Search.
The Quick Search provides a quick way to search for keywords and/or
author in most fields in the resource library. The Advanced Search
allows you to specify more search criteria in addition to the keywords
and author.
Back to top |
Entering
Keywords |
Use the Keywords field and other text
fields such as Title and Journal Name to search for resources that
contain specific words. It is important to enter the right keywords
in the right fields or else the search may not return the desired
results. For example, if you enter an author's name in the Keywords
field and leave the Author field blank, the system may not return
resources by the specified author even if resources by the author
are present in the resource library. This is because the system will
not search within author, document type, language, and audience fields
for text entered in the Keywords field.
Important:
- Check spellings carefully. A misspelling could result in no resources
being returned.
- Do not use punctuation to separate or group text strings. The
system removes all punctuation from the search criteria.
- The more search criteria you enter, the narrower your search will
be.
- To search for an author, enter the author's last name in the Author
field. If you know the author's first initial, enter it in the in
the First Initial field. The system will not return resources by
an author if you enter the author's name in the Keywords field.
- Never enter an author's first name in the Author field. Enter
only the author's last name and first initial, if known. The system
does not store authors' first names.
- You can search for only one author at a time.
- When performing an Advanced Search, if you leave the text box
for the beginning year blank and complete the ending year, the system
searches for all resources published before the ending year. If
you complete the beginning year text box and leave the ending year
text box blank, the system searches for all resources published
from the year entered to the present date.
- By default, the system performs an AND search, meaning it searches
for resources that contain all the specified keywords. For example,
if you search for "nicotine weight", each resource in
the results list contains both keywords. However, if you enter OR
between the keywords in the Keywords field, the system will perform
an OR search, meaning it searches for resources that contain any
of the specified keywords. For example, if you search for "nicotine
or weight", each resource in the results list contains any
one of the keywords.
To
find... |
Type... |
Example |
One word |
All or
part of a word
|
program
Results include program and all other words containing that
string of letters, such as programs
|
All search
words |
two or more
words |
Example
1
nicotine weight
Example 2
nicotine and weight
Results include all resources that contain nicotine
and weight |
Any search
word
|
the words
separated by OR |
cessation
or program
Results include all resources containing cessation
or program |
Back to top
|
Widening
Your Search |
A wide search encompasses a range of
resources. Use this technique when you want to browse through resources,
or your original search did not yield any results.
To widen your search, follow these tips:
Search
Technique |
Example |
Results |
Leave all search
fields blank |
|
Results
include all resources in the resource library |
Type only one
word or part of a word in the Keywords field or other text fields
such as Title, Journal Name, etc. |
keyword
= smok
|
Results
include all resources that contain that string of letters,
such as smoking and smokeless
|
Type more
than one word in the Keywords field and separate them with
OR |
keywords
= nicotine OR weight |
Results
include all resources containing nicotine or weight |
Type only
one word or part of a word in the Author field
|
Author =
Smi |
Results
include resources by Smith, Smithsonian,
Smitts, Smiley, Smirnoff,
etc. |
Back to top |
Narrowing
Your Search |
Use a narrow search if you have a specific
set of criteria to meet, or when the original search displayed too
wide a range of resources.
To narrow your search, follow these tips:
Search
Technique |
Example |
Results |
Type more than
one word in the Keywords field or other text fields such as
Title, Journal Name, etc.
|
keywords
= nicotine weight mortality |
Results
include all resources containing all words: nicotine,
and weight and mortality |
Type one
word in the Author field and the author's first initial in
the First Initial field |
author
= Johnson T
|
Results
include all resources by Johnson, T., Johnson, T.
M., Johnson, T.J., etc.
|
Specify
the beginning and ending publication years |
Publication
year between 1997 and 2004 |
Results
include resources published between 1997 and 2004 |
Select the
New Citations check box |
|
Results
include only new resources added to the resource library in
the past eight weeks |
Back to top |
Punctuation
Marks |
The system ignores all punctuation marks
entered in the Search fields. For example, if you enter "nicotine,
weight; mortality" as your search criteria, the system drops
the comma and semicolon and treats the search as if you entered "nicotine
weight mortality". The comma and semicolon will also not appear
at the top of the Search Results page as part of your search criteria.
Instead, the system displays "nicotine" AND "weight"
AND "mortality" as your search criteria and searches for
resources containing all three words.
If you enter a punctuation mark other than a comma or semicolon,
such as a question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!), the system displays
a warning at the top of the search results informing you that the
punctuation mark has been removed from the search.
Back to top |
Noise
Words |
Words such as "and", "of",
"after", "about", "where", "it",
and "the" are regarded as noise words. These words are used
frequently and are likely to show up several times in the course of
a single written paragraph. To keep search time to a minimum, the
system ignores such words when searching. Noise words are also not
included at the top of the Search Results page as part of your search
criteria. For example, if you entered "relationship to smoking
history and the history of lung cancer" the system displays "relationship"
AND "smoking" AND "history" AND "history"
AND "lung" AND "cancer" as your search criteria
at the top of the Search Results page.
|
|