OR

The OR operator enables you to find records that contain one or the other, or both of the queried words.

For example: ’contract OR agreement’ finds records that contain the word ’contract’, the ones that contain the word ’agreement’ and the ones that contain both ’contract’ and ’agreement’.

AND

The AND operator enables you to find records that contain both of the queried words.

For example: ’contract AND maintenance’ finds records that contain both ’contract’ and ’maintenance’ only.

NOT

The NOT operator enables you to find records that contain the word that precedes the operator, but not the word that follows.

For example: ’room NOT storage’ finds records that contain the word ’room’ but not records that contain the word ’storage’. Therefore, records containing ’storage room’ will be excluded from the search results even though they contain the word ’room’.

% (proximity operator)

The proximity operator % (percent sign) enables you to find records that contain both of the queried words, in no particular order, as long as they’re side by side in the same sentence.

For example: ’Web % site’ finds records that contain ’Web site’ and records that contain ’site Web’ (French translation of ’Web site’).

You can add distance between two queried words. Thus, the %n operator enables you to find records that contain both of the queried words, in no particular order, as long as they appear at a maximum distance of “n“ words from one another, within the same sentence.

For example: ’water %5 lake’ finds the records that contain ’water’ and ’lake’ within 5 words of each other, in no particular order.

! (adjacent operator)

The adjacent operator ! (exclamation mark) enables you to find records that contain the two queried words if they appear side by side and in the same order in the same sentence.

For example: ’child ! support’ finds records that contain the term ’child support’ only. Records that contain the word ’child’ only or the word ’support’ only are excluded.

You can add distance between two queried words. Thus, the !n operator enables you to find records that contain both of the queried words, in order, at a maximum distance of “n“ words from one another, within the same sentence.

For example: ’water !5 lake’ finds records that where ’lake’ appears at a maximum of 5 words after ’water’.

PAR

The PAR operator enables you to find records that contain the queried words in the same subsection, in no particular order.

If the words appear in a record that does not have subsections, the record will still appear in the search results.

For example: ’water PAR lake’ finds records that contain ’water’ and ’lake’ in the same subsection. If the words appear in different subsections, the record is excluded from the results.

PHR

The PHR operator enables you to find records that contain the queried words in the same sentence, in no particular order.

For example: ’water PHR lake’ finds records that contain ’water’ and ’lake’ in the same sentence. If the words appear in different sentences, the record is excluded from the results.

Quotation Marks

Quotation marks (“ “) enable you to find records that contain the complete expression, as entered.

For example: "global war on terrorism" finds records that contain the complete expression. Records that contain ’global’ or ’war’ or ’terrorism’ or ’war on terrorism’ only will be excluded from the results.

Remarque  : Using quotation marks is equivalent to adding a + sign in front of every term and combining them using the adjacent operator !. Thus, searching for ’global war on terrorism’ could also be written: +global ! +war ! +on ! +terrorism.

Parentheses

Parentheses ’( )’ enable you to combine and prioritize many operators.

For example: the operator AND is always treated first. Therefore, if you enter ’contract OR agreement AND “green spaces”’ the query is interpreted as being a search for ’agreement’ and ’green spaces’ or for ’contract’.

Thus, records that contain ’agreement’ and ’green spaces’ will be found, as will records that contain ’contract’, but not records that contain ’contract’ and ’green spaces’.

With the use of parentheses, such a query could also be written as follows: ’contract OR (agreement AND “green spaces”)’.

If you want the OR operator to be treated first, you must use parentheses around the OR operator, as follows: ’(contract OR agreement) AND “green spaces”’.

This query will find records that contain ’contract’ and ’green spaces’ and records that contain ’agreement’ and ’green spaces’.

The Question Mark

The question mark “?” enables you to replace only one character at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word. You can use more than one question mark within the same word. This character is useful when you are not sure how to spell a word.

For example: ‘li?en?e’ finds all the documents that contain the term ’license’ or ’licence’ (in French).

Note : For example: ‘li?en?e’ finds all the documents that contain the term ’license’ or ’licence’ (in French).

The Asterisk

The asterisk “*” enables you to replace several characters at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a word. The asterisk replaces none or several characters.

For example: ’minist*’ finds all the documents that contain the term ’minister’, ’ministers’, ’ministry’, ’ministries’, ’ministerial’ and even words like ’ministère’ and ’ministerielle’ (in French).

Note: The asterisk can be used to find both the singular and plural forms of a term as well as terms that have the same root. Thus, searching for ’*constit*’ would find not only ’constitution’ and ’constitutions’, but also ’anticonstitutionnal’, ’constituent’, ’reconstitute’, etc.