Skip to Main Content

Broaden Your Search to Get More Results
Use OR and parentheses to search to capture synonyms and variations.
- (mug OR cup)
- (Latine OR Latino OR Latina)
- (watercolor OR gouache)
Use truncation to search for many forms of a word including plurals.
- The symbol for truncation is usually * and it usually cuts off the end of the word.
- test* will retrieve test, tests, tester, testing, testimony, testament, and more.
- manage* will retrieve manage, managed, manageable, management, and more.
Use a wildcard to capture spelling variations.
- organi?ation - will retrieve organization and organisation
- flavo?r will retrieve flavor and flavour
Narrow Your Search to Get Fewer, More Specific Results
Use AND to combine concepts so results include all the words.
- Vermont AND maple
- dance AND improvisation
- habitat AND corvids
Use quotation marks around a phrase to ensure an exact match.
- "social justice"
- "climate change"
- "ekphrastic poetry"
Use filters in the databases and catalog to refine your results through limits.
- Limit to full text only
- Limit by date or date range
- Limit by publication or material type