Using the Collection
Simple Search
Simple Search searches everything in the library and returns a list of
matching documents sorted by relevance. Use Simple Search as you would use
Google, Yahoo!, or any other Internet search engine. Simply enter some terms
you are looking for and click "Search."
The search engine uses a ranking formula to rank search results. The formula
used is occasionally updated by library administrators. However, it always
ranks hits on titles, call numbers, ISBNs, and authors highly. If you search
for "Twain," for example, the search engine will rank books written by Twain
higher than books that simply mention Twain.
After you have run a search, you can sort the search results. Click the column
headers to resort the search results.
Advanced Search
Advanced Search allows you to search particular fields in the library. To use
Advanced Search, fill in at least one field on the search screen. Fill in more
fields to narrow the results.
How to find phrases
To find a particular phrase, enclose it in quote marks.
Example
"record prices" finds only documents that contain the exact phrase
"record prices."
Operators, wildcards, and booleans
You can fine tune your search results using operators and booleans.
- -
-
To exclude a word or phrase from search results, prefix the word or phrase
with the minus sign. prices -record finds documents that
contain the word "prices," but not the word "record." Note: you
must type a minus sign in front of every word or phrase you wish to
exclude. To exclude "record" and "prices," enter -record
-prices.
- *
-
To perform a multiple character wildcard search use the "*" symbol.
Multiple character wildcard searches looks for zero or more characters.
For example, to search for test, tests or tester, you can use the search
test*. You can also use the wildcard searches in the middle
of a term.
- ?
-
To perform a single character wildcard search use the "?" symbol. The
single character wildcard search looks for terms that match that with the
single character replaced. For example, to search for "text" or "test" you
can use the search te?t
- ~
-
The site's search engine supports fuzzy searches based on the Levenshtein
Distance, or Edit Distance algorithm. To do a fuzzy search use the tilde,
"~", symbol at the end of a Single word Term. For example to search for a
term similar in spelling to "roam" use the fuzzy search
roam~.
- Booleans
-
Boolean operators allow terms to be combined through logic operators.
OR. The OR operator links two terms and finds a matching
document if either of the terms exist in a document. This is equivalent to
a union using sets. The symbol || can be used in place of the word OR. To
search for documents that contain either "record prices" or just "prices"
use the query: "record prices" OR "prices".
AND. The AND operator matches documents where both terms
exist anywhere in the text of a single document. This is equivalent to an
intersection using sets. The symbol && can be used in place of the
word AND. To search for documents that contain "record prices" and "record
growth" use the query: "record prices" AND "record growth".
The NOT operator excludes documents that contain the term after NOT. This
is equivalent to a difference using sets. The symbol ! can be used in
place of the word NOT. To search for documents that contain "record
prices" but not "record growth" use the query: "record prices" NOT
"record growth".
Portions of this help page are based on documentation produced by the Apache Software Foundation, and are subject to the Apache License, Version 2.0
