College of Rehabilitation Sciences: Phrases

• Some databases assume that words typed next to each other should be searched as phrases.
• Others automatically put a Boolean AND between your search terms, requiring that all the words be present, but not necessarily adjacent to each other.
• These searches can retrieve very different results.

• Using parentheses or quotes around search words is a common way to do phrase searching, but not all databases or search engines use them.

• Example:  "genetic engineering" or (genetic engineering)

• Many databases allow you to specify that the words you are searching are within a certain proximity of each other.
• Because of their proximity the two words can have a relationship
• Proximity operators are more specific than Boolean operators and make your search more precise.
• Proximity operators also vary by database, but some common ones include: W# (With, Within) and N# (Near)

  • W# can specify that words appear in the order you type them

  • Substitute the # with a number of words that may appear in between. If no number is given, then it specifies an exact phrase.

  • Examples: cold W2 therapy, it retrieves: cold therapy, cold water therapy, etc.)

  •  N# can specify that the words may appear in any order.

  • Substitute the # with a number of words that may appear in between.

  • Examples: cloning N3 human, it retrieves: cloning of humans, human cloning etc.)

• Proximity Operators vary from database to database (ADJ#, W/#, N/#, NEAR#, etc), you need to check the Help section of each database to see what they use, look for Proximity Operators or Proximity Searching

Searching Basics

1. Create a Searchable Question
2. Boolean Operators
3. Search Strategy
4. Subject Headings and Keywords
5. Phrases
6. Truncation
7. Fields
8. Limits

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