• Keyword Search
• Exact Search

• Publication
• Keyword

The other fields on the form will be ignored by the "Keyword" search. The "Keyword" field must always have an entry in it. The Publication field may be populated to refine the search. Here are specific instructions for populating each of the fields on this form for "Keyword" searching.

1. Publication - Simply select which Newspaper you want to search for from the drop-down menu.
   
   
2. Keyword - This search field supports a variety of parameters.
   
   
• Simple Search - Enter a single word that you would like to search for. i.e "bear" (Do not enter the double quotes. I have included them here simply to offset or emphasize the word.). Leave the "Boolean Search" radio button selected. This looks for "exact matches" of the single word. Punctuation is ignored. The search is case insensitive. This returns every record with the word "bear" or "Bear" or "BEAR" or any combination of case usage within the word "bear". It does not return records with plurals. Remember, the "Keyword" search searches multiple fields in the Full-Text Index, so a record may have a Title with the word "bear" in it, and a Subject 1 with the word "BEARS" in it, but the search only located the record with the former match, not the latter. Go ahead and search on the word "bears" and see if the number of records returned is different. Of course it is. Because now it found all records with the word "bears" in it in any case combination.
• Boolean Search - A boolean search uses the words "AND", "OR", and "AND NOT" to modify or narrow or expand a search. Leave the "Boolean Search" radio button selected. A boolean search will return all records that match the two parameters and the modifier. Again, punctuation and case is ignored. For example, if you wanted to find all the records with the words "bear" AND "missoula" in the same record, you would enter "bear and missoula" in the "Keyword" field. Again, entering the plural of bear would return a different result set. Try it. Enter "bears and missoula" and you will see the number of records returned is different.

  To find all the records with either "bear" OR "missoula" in them, you would enter "bear or missoula" in the "keyword" search field. Again, it is case insensitive, it ignores punctuation, and you leave the "Boolean Search" radio button selected.

  And finally, if you wanted to find all the records with the word "bear" in them, AND NOT any records with the word "missoula" in them, then you would enter "bear and not missoula" in the "Keyword" field.

• Proximity Search - A proximity search is designed to match words that are close to one another in the record. It works in a fashion similar to the Boolean "AND" operator. Both require that more than one word exist in the column being searched. As the words in the search appear closer together, the better the match. The Operator used is NEAR or ~. For example, if we wanted to find all the instances where the word "bear" was close in proximity to the word "missoula" in the same column or field, we would enter the keyword search "bear near missoula" or "bear ~ missoula". These proximity searches can be chained. For example we could search for "bear near missoula ~ airport" and narrow our search even further. Leave the "Boolean Search" radio button selected.
• Prefix Search - A prefix search locates all records with a word that begins with the specified text. Simply add an asterisk (*) after the word you are searching for. Select the "Prefix Term" radio button. For example, if you wanted to find all the records that had words starting with "priv", you would enter "priv* in the "keyword" field and then select the "Prefix Term" radio button and click on the "Keyword Search" button. The result set would contain records with words like; "private", "privacy", "privatization", "privilege", "privileged", etc.
• Exact Phrase - If you want to search for the existence of a phrase (more than a single word in sequence), then you would select the "Exact Phrase" radio button and enter the phrase in the "Keyword" field. For example, if you wanted to locate all the records with the phrase "fields of dreams", enter the phrase (without the double quotes) and select the "Exact Phrase" radio button and click on the "Keyword Search" button. Give it a try.
• Complex Searches - First let's find out how this works. The data tables that you are searching are part of a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database. The data table has been indexed using a "Full-Text Indexing Scheme". The program uses the SQL "CONTAINS" function to scan the data table. When you select the:
  
  
  • Boolean Search Radio Button - the form submits your "Keyword Field" entry to the SQL Server without appending double quotes ("") around the search term.
  • Prefix Term Radio Button - the form submits your "Keyword Field" entry to the SQL Server with double quotes ("") around the search term.
  • Exact Phrase Radio Button - the form submits your "Keyword Field" entry to the SQL Server with double quotes ("") around the search term.

  So, if you would like to try some complex searches, leave the "Boolean Search" radio button selected and enter your own double quotes ("") around the search terms when required. Here are some examples of complex searches. Enter the characters juts as they are shown below.

  • Example 1 - "field*" near dream
  • Example 2 - "field*" or "dream*"
  • Example 3 - (grizzly and black) and bear
  • Example 4 - (grizzly or black) and bear
  • Example 5 - (grizzly near black) or "bear*"
    
    
  Try some on your own. If you get an error page, siply click the "back" button on your browser and try again.

The "Exact" search scans the actual data set, rather than an index, and searches all entries in the following fields. It will return only records that match your input criteria EXACTLY. After you have entered the values you would like to search for, click on the "Exact Search" button.

• Publication
• First Name
• Last Name
• Middle/Maiden Name
• Other Name
• Residence (City, ST)
• Event
• Section
• Page
• Column

The "Exact" search ignores the "Keyword" field.