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Help: Boolean and wildcard searching

To narrow the scope of your search you can use the following special sets of predefined words, called operators, to join together your search terms:

Boolean operators

DNSA allows you to combine your search terms so you can target your search at more specific areas. For example, from the Search Documents page you can list records in DNSA which contain the words terrorism and Iran.

You combine your search terms using the following special keywords, called Boolean operators:

AND

The AND operator retrieves all records that contain the search terms it separates. However, this type of search normally retrieves fewer results than if you searched for one of the terms on its own.

e.g. terrorism AND Iran

If you have entered search terms in more than one search box, DNSA treats them as if they were combined using the AND operator.

OR

The OR operator retrieves all records that contain either or both of the search terms it separates. This type of search retrieves more results than if you searched for one of the terms on its own.

e.g. Army OR Navy

If you select more than one search term from a list, DNSA automatically combines them in the search box using this operator.

NOT

The NOT operator retrieves all records that contain the first search term but not the second.

e.g. immigration NOT Mexico

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Wildcard characters

DNSA allows you to list documents containing variations on a search term by using the * (asterisk) or ? (question mark) wildcard characters.

Use an asterisk to find variations on a word ending.

e.g. work* finds work, works, working, worker, workman, workmen

Use a question mark in the place of a letter to find variations in spelling.

e.g. ?sama finds Osama and Usama.

If you are performing a phrase search, you can only use wildcard operators in the final word in the phrase.

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