Digital Collections has a search bar and an Advanced Search form.
Modifiers and wildcards help to refine your search in the search bar.
| Modifier / Wildcard | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND |
AND
|
Result: items containing "Calgary" and "horse" in searchable fields are displayed |
| NOT |
NOT allows you to exclude certain terms. This can be combined with the AND and OR modifiers. To use the NOT modifier, insert NOT between the terms that should be excluded. Include a space before and after “NOT”. |
|
| OR |
OR allows you to separate terms and search for any listed. To use the OR modifier, insert OR between terms. Include a space before and after “OR”. |
Result: items that contain "Calgary" or "horse" in searchable fields are displayed |
| ( ) |
Parentheses ( ) allow you to perform advanced boolean searches. This can be combined with modifiers and wildcards. To use the parentheses modifier, insert ( ) around the terms to include. |
|
| " " |
Quotation marks " " allow you to perform an exact search. To use the quotation marks modifier, include " " around phrases. |
|
| * |
The asterisk * is a wildcard that matches any number of characters. To use the asterisks wildcard, insert * where you want the asterisk to take the place of one or more characters. |
|
| ? |
The question mark ? is a wildcard that acts as a single character. To use the question mark wildcard, insert ? where you want the question mark to take the place of a single character. |
|
* while the PDF viewer has a Find in Document function, this currently only supports single term or exact phrase searches
The Advanced Search form provides more options for targeting your search to specific fields like the Title or other properties. Some advanced search fields support search modifiers.
To access the Advanced Search form, click on the magnifying glass on the main collections home page.
When the main collections or library portal opens, move the cursor to end of the search window. Hold the cursor there and wait until Advanced Search button appears. Click this button to open the Advanced Search form.
