Using the Keyword search box in OASIS can be a very powerful and effective search tool. A simple Keyword search will look for words in many fields displayed in the Title Details and can be a good substitute for a subject search when you do not know the subject heading form, or there is no adequate subject heading.
The chart below provides a few search options with operators which can be used in the Keyword search box:
lcsubjects:xxxx |
lcsubjects:nanotechnology |
lcclass:[xxxx TO xxxx] |
lcclass:[RA1190 TO RA1270] |
nlmcode:[xxxx TO xxxx] |
nlmcode:[WD400 TO WD430] |
dewey:xxx |
dewey:726 |
dewey:[xxx TO xxx] |
dewey:[726.5 TO 726.599] |
title:xxxx |
title:obama |
title:”xxx xxxx” |
title:”steve jobs” |
author:xxxx |
author:transtromer |
author:xxxx title:"xxx xxxx" |
author:bronte title:"wuthering heights" |
publisher:”xxx xxxx” |
publisher:”oxford university” |
xxx NOT publisher:"xxx xxxx" |
nanotechnology NOT publisher:"CRC Press" |
Basic Boolean operators may also be used to include or exclude specific terms.
Search Strategies:
Use Boolean search operators (AND and NOT) to do basic or more complex searches. For best results always use lower case for all keywords and upper case for all Boolean operators, except where otherwise noted.
The Boolean search operator AND is equal to the "+" symbol. Use AND to narrow or restrict results to both or all of the keywords; a plus sign “+” can be used instead (you need a space before the plus sign and no space after)
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example: music AND blues;
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or, music +blues
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Also, you can say nothing, e.g., music blues will do the same as the two above
The Boolean search operator NOT is equal to the "-" symbol. Use NOT to restrict results by excluding keyword(s); a minus sign (-) can be used instead (you need a space before the minus sign and no space after)
Use a asterisk* to perform Wildcard Searches on words with various endings
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star can be used to truncate a word when only the root word/stem is known.
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For example: admin* will return: administrator, administration, administer, administered, etc.
Group adjacent words using quotation marks ”
Group words in a title in parentheses ( ) or to group segments of a query for more complex searches
Group synonyms in parentheses joined with OR (xxx OR xxx)
- i.e. (general OR Chrysler)AND detroit
n.b. there is no space before AND.
You may also combine your simple Keyword search with the various identifiers to search in specific fields, such as Title, Author, Publisher, LC, NLM or Dewey classifications, and ISBN.
An easy use of the examples above is to copy and paste an option into the keyword search box then replace the terms with your own.
Numeric Range Searches for classifications:
Title Search:
Author Search:
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enter all or part of an author’s name
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i.e. author:santoro
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i.e. author:santoro Emilio
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i.e. author:Emilio santoro
LC Subject Headings Search:
The LC subjects field does not require an exact match. It is a keyword search within the universe of LC Subject Headings