Help with Search

Simple Search

How to: To conduct a simple search, enter one or more keywords in the search box in the left sidebar. Optionally, you may use the drop-down menu under the search box to specify content from the UNL repository as a whole (“in this repository”) or across all Digital Commons repositories (“across all repositories”). After entering keywords in the search box and optionally specifying the scope of the content, then click the Search button to the right of the search box.

Explanation: The simple search will locate content that includes all of the terms you enter. The terms may be in any metadata field or in the full text.

Advanced Search

How to: To conduct an advanced search, click on the Advanced Search link in the left sidebar. Then, enter one or more keywords in the search box. Optionally, use the drop-down menu to the left to select the field that you would like to search. Optionally, click on the plus sign to the right of the search box to add other search boxes and select the desired field for each line. Additionally, optionally, 1. enter a date range, 2. use the “Limit search to:” drop-down menu to expand the search to all Digital Commons repositories, 3. click the appropriate circle to “Sort by:” “Relevance” or “Publication Date,” and/or 4. select an alternate “Format:” for the results. Then, click the Search button.

Explanation: The advanced search will locate content that includes all of the terms you enter. The default advanced search is set to "All Fields," which will query all the criteria used in a simple search. Using the drop-down menus provided will refine the search and using the +/- buttons will include or delete additional criteria. “Date range:” limits results to content published within the specified period. The format for date range is MM/DD/YYYY - MM/DD/YYYY. Example: 08/01/2001 - 07/31/2021. “Sort by:” automatically displays results in order of relevance (that is, closest match), but may be changed to publication date if desired.

Tips

Special characters can enhance your results. Lowercase your terms in combination with the following:

  • Asterisks (*) within or at the end of a term function like multiple wildcards. Example: an All Fields search for l*nn will return results with lynn, linn, and lochlann.
  • Questions marks (?) within or at the end of a term function like single wildcards. Example: an All Fields search for l?nn will return results with lynn and linn, not lochlann.
  • Quotation marks (") around terms return exact phrase matches. Example: "cooler water" will return different results from "water cooler."
  • Tildes (~) at the end of a term return fuzzy matches. Example: colour~ will return results with colour, color, and coli.

Search supports some SOLR syntax as well. Proper capitalization of names is required with the following:

  • author_lname: The last name of an author can be specified. Example: an All Fields search for author_lname: Lynn will only return content by authors with the last name of Lynn.
  • author_fname: The first name of an author can be specified. Example: an All Fields search for author_fname: Lynn will only return content by authors with the first name of Lynn.

Commas will be ignored in any search. Instead, use the tips above to construct finely tuned queries, and then save your criteria using the "Save this search" feature.

To save the results of a search, or to receive notifications of future content that matches your criteria, click the "Save this search" button. Creating an account is simple and free, and you may unsubscribe from notifications at any time.