Help with using the intermediate search

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Use the intermediate search to find more exact results.

The intermediate search function can be used to construct a query using words from an author name, topic, journal title or free text - or a combination of them all. Search (Boolean) operators: And, Or and Not, are used to construct relationships between different search terms.

A search can also be limited by date using the drop down list, and records that have a full text link and/or events can be excluded from your search results.

intermediate search box

Search criteria

The following fields can be searched:

Author - surname followed by initial or first name (Note: if you only have the initial it is necessary to use truncation)
Topic - using a term from the topic tree (see Social Care Online topics, below)
Free text - anywhere in any of the fields of a record
Title - use all or part of a title
Journal - any word in the journal title

The following search operators are supported:

And - produces results that include BOTH terms
Or
- produces results that include EITHER term
Not
- produces results that have one term but EXCLUDE the other term
Date range -
limits results by publication date

Multiple terms and operators can be used to build up a complex search query.

View examples of intermediate searches and results.


Social Care Online topics

The topic tree is available for reference, in hierarchical and alphabetical formats, as a PDF file.

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