Search Tips

Use Search Tips tab for advice on constructing a search strategy

Boolean searching

AND
Each result contains all search terms

i.e. covid AND coronavirus finds items that contain both covid and coronavirus

OR
Each result contains at least one search term.

i.e. covid OR coronavirus finds either items that contain covid or items that contain coronavirus.

NOT
Results do not contain the specified terms.

i.e. covid NOT coronavirus finds items that contain covid but do not contain coronavirus.

Phrase searching

Use quotation marks to search for words as a phrase.

i.e. "covid-19 pandemic"

"climate change"

Wildcards

Question mark (?)
Use to replace one character within a word.

i.e. ne?t will find all records containing neat, nest or next.

Hash (#)
Use to find alternate spelling.

i.e. colo#r will find all records containing color or colour.

Asterisk (*)
Use to find alternate word endings.

i.e. europ* will find the words europe or european.