njedl help

Basic Search

By Keyword(s)

You can search by as few or as many keywords as you like. Searching a single word will bring the largest number of hits; combining keywords results in a smaller but more focused response. The truncation sign is the asterisk (*). Searching the word slope* retrieves both slope and slopes.

Example 1 = 145 Records Found

Example 2 = 20 Records Found

Example 3 = 2 Records Found

By Phrase

You can search a phrase by itself, or in combination with other search elements.

Note: The use of quotation marks around a phrase (or word) can radically change search results. See below: Using Quotation Marks in Your Search

By Author

Single Author Search:

Example 1 = 5 Records Found (Finds all authors named "Cook")

Example 2 = 1 Record Found

Multiple Author Search:

The best way to search multiple authors is to simply type in the last names, connected by the word "and"

Example 1 = 1 Record Found

Using the Pick Lists

Limiting a Basic Search

You can limit your search by choosing a Primary Theme, such as agriculture or air pollution, Primary Place, such as Atlantic County, or Document Type, such as map or master's theses.

Example: Keyword/Phrase combined with Primary Place

Browsing Broad Themes

You can use the pick lists singly or in combination with each other to "browse" by very broad subject themes, or by county/state, or by type of library material, e.g. reports, data, maps, video:

Example: Browse Primary Theme combined with Document Type

Advanced Searching Tips

		Boolean Search: Can I use "AND", "OR" and "NOT"?
	NJEDL supports Boolean logic operators, such as AND, OR, and NOT:
	Example 1
		fish AND wildlife = Records must contain BOTH words
	Example 2
		fish OR wildlife = Records can contain either word, or both
	Example 3
		fish NOT wildlife = Records contain "fish" - but not if the word "wildlife" is also present.
		Truncation and Wildcard Characters: Do I need to type the whole word?
	NJEDL's search engine, Verity, automatically truncates words. However, it does not reliably pick up ALL word endings. For example, if you search the partial word "pollut" Verity will retrieve pollute, pollution, polluter - automatically picking up common word endings. However, Verity will miss the words "pollutant" or "pollutants."
	Best Practice Recommended: If you want to be sure that you retrieve all variations of a word, do use the * character.
	Example 1 - word endings
		operat* will find records containing operations, operational, and operator.
	Example 2 - internal wildcards
		wom*n will find records containing either woman or women.
		Using Quotation Marks in a Search
	Any word or phrase can be searched with our without quotation marks around them - the search results may vary drastically according to which method is used. Without quotes, Verity automatically truncates word endings, and ignores the plural "s" at the end of words. Therefore, the phrase environmental indicators is automatically searched as environmental indicators or environmental indicator. However, if you put quotation marks around the phrase, the match will be exact - only environmental indicators will be searched and retrieved.
	Example 1 = 108 Records Found (automatic truncation of word ending)
	Example 2 = 73 Records Found (exact phrase is matched)
	Best Practice Recommended: It all depends! If you are looking for flexibility, drop the quotation marks and just type in your word(s) or phrase(s). If you are trying to be very precise, enclose the word or phrase in quotes.
		Case Sensitivity: Do capital letters matter?
	Verity handles case sensitivity in the following manner:
		If you search for a string that is all uppercase - the search is case insensitive.
		If you search for a string that is all lowercase - the search is case insensitive.
		If you search for a string that is mixed case - the search is case sensitive.
	Examples
		Either water quality or WATER QUALITY will retrieve 146 documents.
		Water Quality retrieves 24 documents.
		wAtEr quaLity retrieves no documents.
	Best Practice Recommended: Do all searches using lower-case letters only. This will pick up all occurrences of your word or phrase.

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