Searching
Creating a Search Query
phrases | logical operators | truncation | wild cards | nesting
Most databases and Web search engines don't understand the natural language we speak and need help understanding what we're looking for. For this, they require a special set of conventions, including:
Quotation marks | Around exact phrases (e.g. "University of Washington") |
Logical or Boolean operators | Connecting words that narrow or broaden a search to include only what you need. Examples: OR, AND, NOT. |
Wildcards and truncation symbols (* # ? !) |
For terms that have variant forms of spelling or different possible endings. Examples: child* for child, children, childhood, childish, etc. |
Nesting | Placing terms in parentheses to indicate separate units. (Like an equation, [A or B] not C). |
Databases and search engines apply these rules differently, so check HELP files to find out how to use them.
Click on the links below for a demonstration of each strategy. Select either an animated movie or a static image. When you have finished looking at the demos, try the searching tutorial, available from the links in the sidebar. This tutorial will guide you through an example database search. (The tutorial link will open two new windows — a small console, and a large window for the database. The database may take a second to load.)
Function |
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Search Strategy |
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Narrowing |
AND |
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NOT |
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Broadening |
OR |
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Wildcard |
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Combining |
Nesting |