Search Selected Access Tools

Using proximity operators

Proximity Operators specify the number of words that are permitted to occur between the two search terms within a bibliographic record. This is one way to search for terms that need to be near each other if the item is to be relevant to your topic.

There are a number of ways to express proximity in the search statement syntax. Three common ones are:

• ADJACENT or adj/#
• WITH or w/#
• NEAR or n/#
  • in your search statement the # will be replace with a number specifying how many words may come between the search statement terms.
  • sometimes the proximity operator specifies the order in which the words must occur, most of the time it does not.

In the topic statement below, the secondary concept "American" needs to be close to the primary concept "colonists" because it specifically limits the primary concept to a particular type, that is, American Colonists.

Thesis statement:

Using a proximity operator to express the close relationship

This search statement retrieves only records in which the terms are within 2 words of each other.

Different search software expresses proximity operators in different ways. Always check the Help screens to find out what symbols or words you should use.

Introduction
Identify Key Concepts
Search Access Tools
Print Access Tools
Online Access Tools
Analyze Results
Revise Search
Other Strategies
End of Module