Back to:

Subject Searching Tips

'Subject' covers the abstract, the notes and the subject headings
(National Library of Medicine MeSH terms)

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity	Exact subject term from MeSH thesaurus
attention deficit*	Subjects beginning with the letters attention deficit
aboriginal	Subjects containing the word aboriginal
aborig*	Subjects containing words beginning with aborig eg: aboriginal, aborigine, aborigines

Combine terms (joins must be in UPPERCASE)

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
obesity AND child*	Finds records which contain both terms in the subject.
cancer OR neoplasms	Finds records which contain either term in the subject.
child abuse NOT sexual	Finds records containing the first subject term that do not contain the second subject term.

Title Searching Tips

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
secret girl's business	Exact title
secret girl*	Titles beginning with the letters secret girl
secret	Titles containing the word secret
girl*	Titles containing words beginning with girl eg: girl, girls, girl's, girlfriend

Combine terms (joins must be in UPPERCASE)

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
secret AND business	Finds records which contain both terms in the title.
fetal OR foetal	Finds records which contain either term in the title.
cancer NOT breast	Finds records containing the first title term that do not contain the second title term.

Name Searching Tips

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
Biddulph, Shaaron	Exact surname and first name
Biddulph, S*	Names beginning with that surname and initial
Biddulph	Names containing the word Biddulph
Family Planning Queensland	Exact corporate name
Family Plan*	Names beginning with the letters Family Plan
Planning	Names containing the word Planning

Combine terms (joins must be in UPPERCASE)

TYPE THIS	TO FIND THIS
Department AND Health	Finds records which contain both terms anywhere in the author or publisher.
Mitec OR Mi-Tec	Finds records which contain either term anywhere in the author or publisher.
Family Planning NOT Western Australia	Finds records containing the first term but not the second term anywhere in the author or publisher.