Search Tips

The Advanced Search form enables users to target searches to specific types of content and/or to specific volumes:

  1. Type a query in the Search box
  2. Select a specific field and/or specific volumes to be searched
  3. Click on the Search button to initiate the search

Queries can consist of a single word or multiple words. To find an exact phrase, use quotation marks at the beginning and end of the phrase (for example, the query "alloy steel" finds content containing this exact phrase only; the query alloy steel will find sections where these two words appear in any position within a paragraph).

Any of the following search operators can be used:

Operator Example Query Function
AND iron AND steel Finds both words in the same paragraph
OR brass OR bronze Finds either word
NOT gold NOT silver Finds the first word but excludes content containing the second word.
NEAR cobalt NEAR alloy Finds content where the two words appear within 10 words of each other
* carbur* Wildcard--matches any sequence of characters. The example query finds carburize, carburized, carburizes, carburization, carburizing, and so on

For additional information, refer to the sections Advanced Search and Searching Strategies in the Help file.