The Advanced Search helps users construct complex queries and search terms across different fields at the same time (e.g. Author and a Subject). This page will walk you through how to construct searches with our catalog's Advanced Search.
All of these words: Equivalent to the default Simple Search of Everything in All Fields. Searches for items that have all of the keywords listed in a single field in any order. Acts like a Boolean search of Keyword1 AND Keyword2 AND Keyword3
This exact phrase: Equivalent to putting a search query in "double quotes" in the Simple Search. Allows you to search for a specific phrase such as a group of keywords that should be considered one sequence such as "cosmic rays", where the search would be for "Cosmic Rays" rather than "Cosmic" AND "Rays"
Tip: You can search for "All of these words" and "This exact phrase" at the same time. Such as searching for
All these words: physics astronomy
This exact phrase: cosmic rays
Produces the search: physics astronomy "cosmic rays"
You can preview how your search will look by scrolling to the bottom of the Advanced Search page in the text field right next to the Advanced Search Button.
These unwanted terms -- Excludes items from the search results that have a match for ALL these terms. Equivalent to a Boolean NOT search or a minus sign (-) in the Simple Search.
Example:
Say you wanted to look for items relating to Niels Bohr but did not want items that referenced the "Niels Bohr Library & Archives".
You might search for:
All these words: Niels Bohr
These unwanted terms: "library"
Results in a search query: niels bohr -library
Note: A search like this will exclude items where both terms occur, so you would be excluding both items that just mention the Niels Bohr Library (and not Bohr himself) AND items related to Bohr that also mention the Niels Bohr Library & Archives (e.g. where NBLA is the repository for archival material). Keep this in mind when using this function.
To perform a search for terms that might appear in different fields of a record, use the Additional Limits search bars to add (Find) or exclude (Don't Show) keywords that might be found in the Title, Author, or Subject fields. This allows for more targeted and complex searches. You can also construct these searches using the Field Tags and Special Punctuation in the Simple Search.
For example:
To find a book by Albert Einstein that is about physics, you might use the limit search:
(Find) Author: Einstein, Albert
(Find) Subject: Physics
AUTHOR=Einstein SUBJECT=physics
To find a book by Albert Einstein that is NOT about physics,
(Find) Author: Einstein, Albert
(Don't Show) Subject: Physics
AUTHOR=Einstein -SUBJECT=physics
Note: these limits will also be available as facets to narrow your search later, so if you want to search for multiple formats or languages, do not set the limit here, and instead use the search result facets to narrow them down. (See Search Result Display and Limits page in this guide). If you have a specific language or format in mind, you can use this dropdown to pre-filter your search.
Format type: Use to search for a specific format type such as Book or Microfilm.
Language: Use to search for items in a particular language, such as Russian, German, or Latin.
Collection Type: You can largely ignore this drop down. The only options that are relevant to search are:
To specify the collection you are searching, we recommend using the Item Type Limits in the checkboxes rather than this Collection Type dropdown menu.
At the bottom of the Advanced Search there are checkbox limits that allow you to select the subcategories of collections you would like to search. If none are selected, the search will search all collections. This is the same list as in the "Everything" drop down in the Simple Search, however unlike the Simple Search, this allows you to select more than one category at a time.
This is useful if you would like to search combinations of collections across format types, such as doing a search for items in Manuscript Biographies and Special Collection Books. If no search terms are entered in the text boxes, you can use these limits to do a broad search of everything in categories you specify if you would like to browse the catalog.
For definitions of these collection types and what they search, see the Collections Overview page of this guide.