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How to Search in the Health Sciences: Phrases

Searching with phrases

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  1. play the video
  2. click on the "cog" icon
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Basics of phrase searching

  • 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.

Examples: 

"genetic engineering"

(genetic engineering)

Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library (University of Manitoba) --- ph. 204-789-3342 | healthlibrary@umanitoba.ca