Search - Boolean Operators

Search / Boolean Operators

Boolean searches may be done on the Basic Search screen, on the Advanced Search screen, on the Search Results screens in the Find text entry box, and on the Search History screen (within the Search Builder). A structured search can be entered in the text entry box and the system will automatically recognize the use of the Boolean operators and, or, not, and in if found in the search string.

WilsonWeb offers a great many more operators than is customary. An experienced researcher can search with nuances and a focus not possible with other competitive systems. Each operator is described below and includes examples. Note, however, that a less experienced researcher can easily accomplish a simple bound phrase search, as well as nested searches. For example:

"Performance artists" — bound phrase using double quotation marks
(painters or sculptors) and italy — nested search

You can use more than 30 operators to construct specific search queries.
Note: The operators and, or, not, and in do not require brackets.

Categories of Available Operators:
	Concept Operators
	Proximity Operators
	Relational Operators
	Evidence Operators
	Score Operators
	Natural Language Operators
	Modifiers

Concept Operators:
These operators combine the meaning of terms in a query.

<accrue>	Selects records with at least one search element; the more elements you include, the higher the result. <accrue>(hudson river, harlem river, pollution) computers<accrue>laptops
<all>	Selects records that contain all elements you specify, but are not ranked for relevance. <all>(hudson river and harlem river and pollution)
<and>	Selects records that contain all elements you specify and are ranked for relevance. <and>(hudson river and harlem river and pollution)
<any>	Selects records that contain at least one element you specify, but are not ranked for relevance. <any>(Iraq, Mesopotamia) Iraq<any>Mesopotamia
<or>	Selects records that contain at least one element you specify and are ranked for relevance. <or>(cellular phones, Manitoba) cellular or phones or Manitoba

Back to top

Proximity Operators:
These operators specify the relative location of words in a document. Specified words must be in the same phrase, sentence, or paragraph in a record. When you nest these operators, use the ones with the broadest scope first.

<in>	Selects records that contain terms in one or more regions of the document, such as the summary or the body of the record. "safety"<in>SU
<near>	Selects records containing all elements you specify and are ranked for relevance. war<near>peace
<near/n>	Selects records containing two or more elements you specify within n number of words of each other. (n = an integer between 1 and 1024.) The results are ranked for relevance. Manitoba<near/10>tourism commute<near/8>bicycle<near/8>train
<phrase>	Selects records that include the phrase you specify. <phrase>(industrial development in Canada) mission<phrase>oak

Back to top

Relational Operators
These operators search document fields (such as Author) that have been defined in the database, but the results are not ranked for relevance. The fields can contain alphanumeric characters.

<contains>	Selects records by matching the character string to a field. TI<contains>star gazing PY<contains>1997
<ends>	Selects records by matching the character string to the ending characters in a field. TI<ends>ner
<starts>	Selects records by matching the character string to the starting characters in a field. TI<starts>whenever
<substring>	Selects records by matching the character string to some of the characters in a field. JN<substring>journal of TI<substring>sol
In addition, use symbols for numeric and date comparison: = (equals), != (not equals), > (greater than), >= (greater than or equal to), < (less than), <= (less than or equal to). py<2000 byr>=1960 and byr<=1962 <all>(py<1984) (py>2001) and dividends

Back to top

Evidence Operators
These operators perform either a basic word search or an intelligent word search.

<stem>	Expands the search to include the word you enter and its variations. <stem>film
<typo/n>	Expands the search to include the word you enter and similar terms. This operator performs approximate pattern matching. <typo/3>sweeping
<wildcard>	Matches a pattern or range of characters. Note: currently, only the results in the Title field are highlighted when using the <wildcard> operator. Therefore, most examples will only show this field for demonstration purposes. <wildcard> "bank[s,er,ing]" locates banks, banker, banking, specifying one of each pattern separated by commas. <wildcard> "c[auo]t" in TI locates cat, cut, and cot in title, specifying one of any character in a set. <wildcard> "st[^oa]ck" in TI excludes stock and stack but locates stick and stuck in title, specifying one of any character not in the set. <wildcard> "c[a-r]t" in AB locates every three-letter term from cat to crt in the abstract, specifying a range of characters in the set. *Corp in TI locates corporate, corporation, corporal, and corpulent in the title field. It is not necessary to use the <wildcard> operator when using an asterisk; do not use an asterisk to specify the first character of a wildcard string. ?an in TI locates ban, can, dan, and so on, in the title field, specifying one of any alphanumeric character. It is not necessary to specify the <wildcard>** operator when you use the question mark.
<word>	Selects records that include one or more instances of the exact term you enter. <word>rhetoric

Back to top

Score Operators
These operators affect how retrieved records are ranked for relevance. They are not used with modifiers.

<product>	Calculates relevance of retrieved records by multiplying the scores for the search terms. <product>("crafts", "quilts")
<sum>	Calculates relevance of retrieved records by adding the scores for the search terms. <sum>("Chloe")
<yesno>	Limits a search to matching records without the score of the search terms affecting the final relevance-ranking of the documents. <yesno>("Chloe") <yesno>("Chloe")<and>"Mead"

Back to top

Natural Language Operators
These operators enable the search engine to resolve natural language syntax.

<freetext>

Interprets text using the free text query parser. All records retrieved are ranked for relevance.

<freetext>("peace negotiations in the Middle East")and(2001)

Back to top

Modifiers
You can change the standard behavior of an operator by using these modifiers in conjunction with other operators.

<many>	Incorporates the density of search terms in the calculation of relevance. <many>candy apples
<not>	Excludes documents containing specified terms or phrases. cat and mouse and not dog
<order>	Specifies the order in which search terms must occur in the record. president<order><all>Washington <order><all>(world,wide,web)

Back to top