Advanced Search Function Help
How to perform an advanced search in Compak
It's a simple three-step process:
- which section (s) you would like to search in
- whether you would like to search all issues of Compak or only issues published in a particular year or term. If the latter is the case, click on the calendar symbols to select your date range.
- Then you can select up to five additional search criteria. Click on the first dropdown button called "all fields" and select the desired field and depending on what field you selected, type in your search criteria or tick the relevant box. If you wish to refine your search further you can select further fields from the remaining four dropdown buttons. If you are combing two or more criteria, the search results will depend on whether you selected AND, OR, NOT.
How does AND, OR, NOT work?
The Compak advanced search is based on Boolean logic which consists of the use of three logical operators: OR, AND, NOT
- Using AND narows a search by combining terms; it will only retrieve documents that use both the search terms you specify, as in this example: Assuming I am searching through a database of restaurants and I am looking for an Indian restaurant that is located in Carlton. The appropriate search would be "Indian" AND "Carlton",
- Using OR broadens a search to include results that contain either of the words you type in. Using the same example, the search "Indian" OR "Carlton" will bring up all Indian restaurants (in Carlton and everywhere else) and it will bring up any restaurant (Indian and all other types) that are located in Carlton.
- Using NOT will narrow a search by excluding certain search terms. Using the same example again, the search "Carlton" NOT "Indian" will bring up all restaurants in Carlton but exclude any Indian restaurants.
To illustrate this again with real Compak searches please watch this short demonstration video or download this instructional PDF.
