The advanced search function is very powerful. You can use it to create structured queries, where you apply limiters before searching instead of after. Like the search results page, it can look a bit complicated. Let's break it down.
It consists of two sections:
You can choose a specific field in which to search. Though some fields are perhaps more useful than others. You are perhaps unlikely to use an ISSN, an ISBN or an EBSCO internal accession number as a search term.
You can search in multiple fields using the Boolean Operators AND, OR and NOT to combine search terms. For example, you could search for Kelly (Author) AND Toxic Chemicals (Title). Field searching and Boolean Operators are a very powerful combination, but might be tricky to get right.
Below the field search boxes, is a row of four tabs. Click on a tab to see different search options.
Most of the filters available here are shown on the Search Results page, but there are a few differences.
Other filters can be selected on the search results page, however
Search modes offer four different ways to conduct a search:
Expanders let you broaden the scope of your search. They do this by widening your search to include words related to your keywords or including the actual text of the full text results in your search
Use terms from EBSCO's thesaurus of subject terms in your search. Click on a term or the downward-pointing chevron to its right to get more information. If you're adventurous, you can combine subject terms for searches using Boolean operators.
You can also search the thesaurus for terms to use in searching - useful if you're looking for different ways of expressing the same idea.
Advanced search is very powerful, but you might not need all its bells and whistles. If you're not comfortable using the advanced search options or find it all a bit complicated to use, then don't! Stick to the basic search, and maybe think about only using the full-text and peer-reviewed limiters if you need to.
