| Search words must be three or more characters long - use 'operators' for more relevent search results | |
| Example | Action |
|---|---|
| crantock colan | Find records that contain at least one of the two words |
| +newquay +harbour | Find records that contain both words |
| "newquay voice" | Find records that contain the exact phrase “newquay voice” (so you can match phrases, for example). |
| +newquay -beach | Find records that contain the word “newquay” but not “beach” |
| light* | Find records that contain words such as “lighthouse”, “headlight”, or “lighting”. * can only appear at the end of a word |
| 2002** 2002.5** | Group seach of only the Accession Reference of records. If the text appears not to be an accession ref. root, the ** is ignored |
| +towan ~blystra | Find records that contain the word “towan”, but if the record also contains the word “blystra”, rate it lower than if record does not. This is “softer” than a search for +towan -blystra, for which the presence of “blystra” causes the record not to be returned at all |
| +apple +(>turnover <strudel) | Find records that contain the words “apple” and “turnover”, or “apple” and “strudel” (in any order), but rank “apple turnover” higher than “apple strudel” |
| Operator | Description |
| + | The word is mandatory in all records returned. |
| - | The word cannot appear in any record returned. |
| < | The word that follows has a lower relevance than other words, although records containing it will still match |
| > | The word that follows has a higher relevance than other words. |
| () | Used to group words into subexpressions. |
| ~ | The word following contributes negatively to the relevance of the record (which is different to the '-' operator, which specifically excludes the word, or the '<' operator, which still causes the word to contribute positively to the relevance of the record. |
| * | The wildcard, indicating zero or more characters. It can only appear at the end of a word. |
| ** | The ** wildcard, assumes an accession reference group search, otherwise ignored |
| " | Anything enclosed in the double quotes is taken as a whole (so you can match phrases, for example). |