Skip to Main Content

Library Search User Guide

Basic Search

Basic Search

Best for simple searches when you know what you are looking for.

Search Options:

  • As you type in the search box you will have the option to select Everything (all items available at NorQuest Library) or Textbooks.
    • Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase or title (e.g. "Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology")
  • You can also select the format you prefer (Books, Articles or Videos). The default is to search All formats.
  • Click on the microphone icon to enable speech to text. You may be prompted to allow the library search to access your microphone before you can use this feature. 
  • Next to the search box is the Advanced search button that offers many more useful search options.
     

The main library search page. The top navigation bar has several buttons: new search, help, A to Z databases, browse search, find by citation, interlibrary loan request, and a hidden menu. In the top right corner is the Sign in button and a hidden menu. Below that top navigation bar there is a search box where you can type in search terms. To the left is a microphone button that allows users to search by voice rather than typing their search terms. To the right of that is the Search button. And to the right of that is the Advanced Search button. Below the search box there are three format options you can choose: All, Books, Journals, Articles and Videos. Below that is a list of search results, with several filters on the left side of the page.

Advanced Search

Advanced Search

Best for more complex searches with multiple search terms.

Advanced Search allows you to enter search terms, select which fields they apply to, use Boolean operators to narrow or expand your search, and filter by item type, language and date range. 

Search options:

  1. Search box: type your search terms here. 
    • Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase (e.g. "occupational therapy") or title ("Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing") 
  2. Field: you can choose to search by title, subject, or author. If you don't want to search by a specific field, leave as Any Field.
    • To get results with "literacy strategies" in the title, you would select Title. 
  3. Search type: specify how closely the search results match your search phrase.
    • Contains: results contain all of your search phrase, but they may not be in the same order or very close together.
    • Contains exact phrase: results exactly match the search phrase, with terms in the same order and close together. There may be some variation.
      • E.g. searches for results that have Martin Luther King Jr. in the title include results like Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the making of a national leader.
    • Equals exact phrase: results exactly match the search terms with no variation 
      • E.g. searches for results that have Martin Luther King Jr. in the title, will only retrieve results where the title is Martin Luther King Jr.
    • Starts with: can only search the Title field and retrieves results that start with your search phrase.
  4. Boolean Operators: narrow or expand your search.   
    • AND: will narrow your search by only retrieving results that mention all of your search terms or phrases
      • E.g. "generative artificial intelligence" AND post-secondary
    • OR: will expand your search to include results that mention any of your search terms or phrases. 
      Because of how searches are processed, avoid selecting OR from the drop-down menu.       If you want to use OR in a search, type it into the search box (see image below). 
    • NOT: removes any results that include a specific search term or phrase
      • E.g. "social media" NOT Facebook
  5. If you need another search box, click on + Add a new line
  6. Filters: allow you to specify Item Type (Articles, Books, Videos), Language, and a preferred Date range.

 

Advanced search box. Top tabs are Search Criteria (which is the default) and Barcode Search. Below that there are two options for what to search: Available at NorQuest, or Textbooks. Below that there is a row that includes search options and search boxes. In the first row, there is a drop-down menu where you can choose the field. The box to the right is the search type field, followed by the actual search box where you type in your search terms. In this screenshot, this row says Any field contains “academic integrity”. The words “academic integrity” are in quotation marks. In the row below, there is a drop-down box where you can select a Boolean operator to connect the two rows, followed by the same fields as the first row (field, search type, search box). This row says: AND Any Field contains post secondary OR college OR university. The ANDs and ORs are in capital letters which is required for Boolean operators to work properly. Below that there is a button to Add a new line, and next to that the Clear button, which will wipe your search. To the right of all the rows are more filter options. At the top of this list are the item types, followed by language options, and the Start and End Date (with separate drop down menus for day, month, and year). Below all the advanced search options is the current search written out in full, and to the left of that, a Search button.

Modify or Reset your Search

if you do an initial search and then would like to modify, the advanced search field may be hidden. 

Go to the top of the results page and click on the down arrowabove the Search button to expand the advanced search fields.

If you want to start a new search, you can either click Clear in the advanced search box, or New Search in the top navigation bar.

The same advanced search box as the previous image, but with the New Search button that is located above the Advanced Search box in the site navigation bar at the top of the screen circled. The Clear button below the search rows in the Advanced Search box is also circled.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.