Skip to Main Content

University Library

OneSearch

This guide will teach you all the tricks and tips you need to know to expertly use OneSearch, the library's primary search engine.

Where do I find Advanced Search?

There are a lot of great Advanced Search options in OneSearch, but they can be hard to find. You can go directly to an Advanced Search by clicking the Advanced Search link under the search box on the library homepage. If you're already in OneSearch, look to the right of the search bar. You'll see an Advanced Search link.

What can I do with advanced search?

Advanced Search allows you to limit your search before you start. There are many different limiting options.

You can search by:

  • Title
  • Author or contributor
  • Subject
  • Call Number
  • ISBN or ISSN

You can also specify whether you want results that exactly match the terms you entered, that start with the terms you entered, or that only contain the terms or an exact phrase.

You can also limit your search by material type, language, or publication date.

You can limit the material type to

  • Books
  • Articles
  • Journals
  • Videos

You can limit to materials in

  • English
  • Spanish
  • French
  • German

And you can search only for things published in the last year, last 2 years, last 5 years, last 10 years, or last 20 years. You can also set a specific date range.

Search Methods

Combine search terms with boolean operators ( OR / AND / NOT )

 

Boolean Operator

OR

AND

NOT

Why you do it

Link keywords related to a single concept

Link different concepts Exclude certain search terms
What it does Linking with OR broadens a search (increases the number of results) by searching for any of the alternative keywords Linking with AND narrows a search (reduces the number of results) by retrieving only those records that include all of your specified keywords Using NOT narrows a search by excluding certain search terms
Example chocolate OR cacao chocolate AND health chocolate NOT candy

 

Use quotes to keep word order when searching for phrases

For phrase searching, place two or more words in "inverted commas" or "quote marks".

Example:   “chocolate chip cookies”

In some databases, words may be searched separately if the quote marks are not used. In other databases, word order may be maintained without the need for quote marks.

Use symbols to retrieve word variations

Symbol

*

?

What it does An asterisk applied to the root of a word (truncation) captures other endings to that root word. A question mark applied in a word (wildcard) replaces one or more characters in the middle of a word.
Why you use it Useful for retrieving singular, plural and other variations of a keyword. Useful if word is spelled in different ways, but still has the same meaning.
Example

child* will give you:

  • child
  • childs
  • children
  • childrens
  • childhood

wom?n will give you:

  • woman
  • women

 

Identity useful limits

Many databases provide many different types of articles. You can narrow your search with limits. Adding a limit to a search will exclude certain material not relevant to your research question, and therefore reduce the number of results.

Examples include:

  • limiting to English language
  • limiting by publication date
  • limiting to a specific document type
  • limiting your search to specific fields, such as only searching in the Title/Abstract fields

The use of limits should be justified by the focus of your research and any constraints.

Screenshot of OneSearch

Identify how the database categorizes information

Many databases use subject headings to organize content. These are generally selected from a controlled list by experienced people and describe what the article is about. 

A comprehensive search strategy is often best achieved by using a combination of keywords and subject headings where possible.

In-depth knowledge of subject headings is not required for users to benefit from improved search performance using them in their searches.

Advantages of subject searching:

  • Helps locate articles that use synonyms, variant spellings, plurals
  • Search terms don’t have to appear in the title or abstract

Note: Subject headings are often unique to a particular database, so you will need to look for appropriate subject headings in each database you intend to use.

Subject headings are not available for every topic, and it is best to only select them if they relate closely to your area of interest. 
 

Screenshot of Onesearch

What about Boolean logic?

Expert searchers use boolean logic to craft very specific searches to help them pinpoint exactly what they're looking for.