The Keyword search options search for a word or combination of words from titles, subject headings, names of organisations, contents notes and series title.

Keyword searching is useful if:

• you are unsure of the exact name of a government department, the precise title of a work, the precise subject heading assigned by the Library
• you are trying to find conference proceedings/papers
• you are trying to find resources on a topic
• you retrieved only very few records in a previous search

There are two options for keyword searching:

• Keyword Search
• Advanced Keyword Search

In the Keyword Search you can:

• Use a range of logical operators in your search, including:
  • Exact phrase:   To search multiple words together as a phrase, enclose the phrase in quotation marks " ". If you enter a string of words without quotation marks, they will be searched as individual words joined by the invisible operator "and".
    
    

    Examples A search of "genetically modified" retrieves records with the words in the exact order. It does not retrieve records that contain the words genetically and modified unless they appear together. A search of genetically modified retrieves records which contain both the words genetically and modified whether together or separately. If a search on "genetically modified" retrieves 0 records, the system replies with the following message: No entries found

  • Alternative spellings/plurals (Truncation):   Words may be right-hand truncated by using an asterisk ( * ). Using a single asterisk will truncate from 0-5 characters. Use a double asterisk ( ** ) for open-ended truncation.
    Multiple words ending in truncation symbols are also searched together as a phrase.
    You can also use a question mark ( ? ) to replace a single character within a word in any position, except the first character. Use this especially if you are not sure how to spell a partricular word.
    
    

    Examples a search on manage will find only:  manage a search on manage* will find:  manage and management and manager a search on enviro** will find:  environs and environment and environmental. a search on wom?n will find:  women and woman a search on anders?n will find:  anderson and andersen a search on insect* behavio* will find:  the phrases   insect behavior and insect behaviour; as well as the subject heading   Insects -- Behavior

  • Operators
    • All the words (Boolean operator "and")
    • Any of the words (Boolean operator "or")
    • Without the words (Boolean operator "not")
    
    If you combine words using AND (or the character & ), each item in your results list will contain both your search terms. This can reduce your search results. [This is the standard operator implied in a keyword search not using any other operators.]
    If you combine words using OR (or the character ¦ ), each item in your results list will contain at least one of your search terms. This will increase your search results.
    To exclude words from your search, you must use AND NOT(or the characters  &  !) Each item in your results list will contain only the first of the search terms. This can reduce your search results.
    
    You can combine operators, but you must bracket the terms relevant to each operator. See the examples.
    
    You can also use brackets to link groups of words.
    If you want to use the operators as search terms, enclose them in double quotes.
    
    

    Examples child* and youth      OR USE     child* & youth (child* and youth) and not babies      OR USE     (child* & youth) &  ! babies alaska and bears      OR USE     alaska & bears kangaroo* and not wallab*      OR USE     kangaroo* &  ! wallab* handicapped or disabled      OR USE     handicapped ¦ disabled (college* or universit*) and (teach* and not learn*)      OR USE     (college* ¦ universit*) & (teach* &  ! learn*) (girls or boys or child*) and (Australia* or Africa*)      OR USE     (girls ¦ boys ¦ child*) & (Australia* ¦ Africa*) black "and" blue - this will search as a phrase, not as the two words "black" and "blue"

  • Proximity: The operators for this type of search are "near" and "within"
    
    Use NEAR (or the character ~) to specify words you want to appear close to each other in any field. It will retrieve records that are within ten words of each other in the same field. If the words occur further apart than ten words, they will not appear in your search results.
    Use WITHIN in the same way as "near", but here you can specify within how many words you want the search terms to appear. Type the number after the word "within".
    If you want to use the operators as search terms, enclose them in double quotes.
    
    

    Examples fractal near geometry      OR USE     fractal ~ geometry sports near medicine      OR USE     sports ~ medicine fractal within 3 geometry sports within 4 medicine "within" and without - this will do the search as two words "within" "and" without - this will do the search as a phrase not as two words "near" east - this will do the search as a phrase

• Qualify your search by field.
  You can specify which part of the record you want your search term to be in. Terms include:
  
  
  • a:author
  • t:title
  • s:subject
  • n:note
    
    

  Examples If you were looking for the play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, you could enter your search to find records with "Shakespeare" in the Author field and "Hamlet" in the Title field eg.   a:shakespeare and t:hamlet If you wanted an official government publication on handicapped in the United States, you could enter your search to find records with "handicapped" in the subject field, and United States in the author field. eg.   (a:united states) and (s:handicapped or s:disabled)

The main catalogue page is where this search is done. Click on the radio button next to "Keyword" and type your search.

The Advanced Keyword Search has the same features as the Keyword Search as well as the ability to limit your search and sort your results before you execute your search.

• The limits are:
  • year of publication - before a certain year or after a certain year.
  • language - what language you want the item in.
  • book/journal/thesis - whether you want a book, journal, or thesis
  • location - which branch library you want the item to be held in.
  • format - whether you want printed materials, videos, manuscripts, etc.
    
    Within each limit it is possible to select more than one.
    eg. If you want to find only videos and sound recordings for your search term/s
    • Select your first limit eg. "video or film".
    • Hold down the Ctrl key and select another eg. "sound record".
    • To unselect any limit, hold down the Ctrl key and click the limit.
  
  
  
• The sorting methods are:
  • Date - latest publication date first
  • Alphabetical
  • Relevance
    • If you enter a string of words without quotation marks, the search results are ranked by relevancy. Results will appear in up to 5 groups. Each group is ordered by title. For example, search the words free speech - the 5 groups are:
      • Most relevant - The very small number of titles where the primary title contains the search as a phrase (e.g. Free speech).
      • Highly relevant - The search phrase appears in the sub-title (e.g. Guilty secrets:free speech in Australia).
      • Very relevant - The search phrase is in the contents, series notes, or subject headings (e.g. Community media which has the phrase "free speech" in the table of contents).
      • Relevant - The Boolean AND pulls words from the search phrase in the primary title and/or sub-title (e.g. Speech and law in a free society).
      • Other relevant - The Boolean AND pulls the words from the search phrase from anywhere in the record (e.g. Emergence of a free press which has "free" in the title and "speech" in one of the subjects).
    
    To deactivate ranked results select: Author, Title, Subject, or Note, from the Any Field drop down menu.
  
  
  

  Try it!

  For further help, please ask any Library Staff