When searching for books in HeritageQuest Online, you can use Boolean
operators to search for multiple terms. (Census searching currently does not
support Boolean operators, however, this enhancement is planned for 2003.) When
searching for multiple terms, Boolean operators (OR, AND, and AND NOT) and other
operators (NEAR, FBY, and EXACT) are words that serve as search operators that
allow you to designate the way HeritageQuest Online searches for your
terms. The following are the operators you can use while searching HeritageQuest
Online. Note that these words are case-insensitive; 'EXACT' works the same
way as 'exact'.
- EXACT - Placing 'exact' before a search term will match that term exactly.
For example, 'exact book' will find matches on 'book' only and not 'books',
'bookkeeping', etc. To match an exact phrase, the phrase should be enclosed
in double quotes. For example, '"women and history"' will find
matches with that exact phrase in them. . 'Exact' only works on single
words; to search for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in parentheses:
(women's history).
- NEAR - Used with two terms, 'near' will find all matches of the two terms
within 10 words of each other. To specify how many words can separate the
two terms, include a number preceded by a colon after the 'near'. For
example, 'women near:4 history' will find all occurrences of 'women' that
are within four words of 'history'.
- FBY - When you enter two terms, you can specify that your search should
return results with your first term followed by your second term within 10
words. Like 'near', you can specify how many words can separate the two
terms, include a number preceded by a colon after the 'fby'.
- AND - Using 'and' retrieves results that include two or more terms that
you have entered in the search field. For example, 'women and history'
retrieves all results with 'women' and 'history' in them; 'women and history
and politics' retrieves all results with 'women', 'history', and 'politics'
in them.
- AND NOT - Using 'and not' indicates that you want to retrieve results that
include your first entered term but not the second. For example, 'women and
not politics' will retrieve results that include 'women' but not 'politics'.
- OR - 'Or' will retrieve results that include either your first entered
search term or your second. For example, a search on 'women or history' will
find results with 'women' or 'history' in them.
All of these words are reserved words; this means that you are not able to
search for them unless you enclose them in double quotation marks. For example,
searching on 'women and history' will bring back results with 'women' and
'history' in them, while searching on 'women "and" history' will bring
back results with 'women', 'and', and 'history' in them.
Note: All search fields are connected by the Boolean search term
'and'. If you enter 'Annapolis' in the Place Name(s) field and 'Smith' in the
Additional Keywords field, HeritageQuest Online will search for
'Annapolis' and 'Smith'.
