Mansfield Library Subject Guides
Techniques for Refining and Focusing Searches
Prepared by: Kim Granath, Pharmacy & Health Sciences Librarian, (406) 243-6017
Note: These techniques are not used with every resource. Also, web search engines handle capitalization and punctuation in various ways. Always check the help section of a resource to determine what options you have for refining your results.
Boolean Operators (logical search operators):
And: searches for two or more concepts in the same document; narrows retrieval
Example: the search cats and dogs will find items that contain both the word cats and the word dogs, but not those that contain only the word cats or only the word dogs.Or: searches for two or more concepts, but not necessarily in the same document; broadens retrieval
Example: the search cats or dogs will find items that contain both the word cats and the word dogs, plus items that contain only the word cats and only the word dogs.Near: searches for two or more concepts in the same document within a certain distance from each other or in the same field (for instance, within 10 words of each other)
Example: the search chicago near museum finds items with the word chicago and the word museum no further than 10 words apart.
Not: searches for one concept but not another; narrows retrieval
(Note: Some resources use And Not)
Example: the search jordan not michael will find items with the word jordan, but not those that contain both of the words michael jordan.
Phrases: search for a phrase by enclosing it in quotes.
Example: “tyrannosaurus rex” will find items with that specific phrase.
Truncation: use a wildcard character with the base of a word to retrieve all possible endings.
Example: educat* will find items with the words: educate, educates, educated, educator, educating, education, educational, etc. Truncation can be used in combination with Boolean operators.
The next techniques work primarily with web search engines:
Plus/Minus System: most web search engines allow use of a + - (plus/minus) system. Place a + (plus sign) directly in front of a term that must appear; place a - (minus sign) directly in front of a term that must not appear.
Example: +bears -NFL will retrieve pages about bears and exclude pages about the NFL's Chicago Bears.
Domain Searching: limit your retrieval to a particular domain
(.edu, .org, .com, .gov,
.net, or any 2-letter country domain)
Example: domain:edu limits retrieval to web pages that have the education domain,
e.g. http://www.umt.edu
Example: domain:ca limits retrieval to web pages that have the country domain for Canada ,
e.g. http://www.ec.gc.ca
18 June 2004