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- Open Libraries – Beginning February 16, Elizabeth Dafoe and Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Libraries are open for student study space. Check hours and access details.
- Archives & Special Collection - access is by appointment only, beginning March 2. Contact Archives.
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BASICS OF PHRASE SEARCHING
PROXIMITY SEARCH BASICS
- 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)
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W# can specify that words appear in the order you type them
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Substitute the # with a number of words that may appear in between. If no number is given, then it specifies an exact phrase.
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Examples: cold W2 therapy, it retrieves: cold therapy, cold water therapy, etc.)
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N# can specify that the words may appear in any order.
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Substitute the # with a number of words that may appear in between.
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Examples: cloning N3 human, it retrieves: cloning of humans, human cloning etc.)
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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