Library Search Tips

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Library Search Tips

There are various ways to search the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse Online Library. Please note, the search function is not case sensitive. It will return the same results if you enter father, FATHER, or even fAthEr.

To find a document in our Library, you may search by:

Keyword
Title of publication or part of the title
Author(s) last name or part of the last name
Year published
Subject

You can use one or more of the above search categories to search for a document.

Using punctuation with multiple keywords
Expand or narrow your search by using multiple keywords with punctuation. Commas (,) are read as "or" and ampersands (&) are read as "and." For example: "father, absence" will be read as "father or absence" (either one must be present), while "father & absence" will be read as "father and absence" (both must be present).

Using the modifier box to narrow or expand your search
Expand or narrow your search by using the modifier box to the right of the search field.

To narrow your search, use the default AND in the modifier box. Use OR to broaden your search. For example, for documents with a keyword of "Father Absence" and written by "Jane Smith," use AND in the modifier box. For documents with a keyword of "Father Absence" or written by "Jane Smith" use OR in the modifier box. AND NOT will narrow your search. For example, to find documents with the keyword "Father Absence" but not written by "Jane Smith" the modifier box should be set to AND NOT.

Using exact phrases
It is not necessary to use quotation marks to find an exact phrase. Entering father absence and outcomes will result in documents that contain that exact phrase.

Using wildcards
Wildcards are symbols that act as placeholders in a keyword. Wildcards can help when you are unsure what you are looking for, unsure how to spell a keyword, or want to search for related keywords or terms.
The two most common wildcards that can be used to search are * (asterisk) and ? (question mark). Using * in a keyword allows the search to look for any number of letters before or after the * (depending on where it is used).

For example, entering father* tells the search to look for any words that begin with adopt (such as father, fatherhood, etc.). Another example, entering *treat* tells the search to look for words that have treat somewhere in the word (such as maltreatment, treatment, etc.).

Using ? in the keyword tells the search to look for a single letter where the ? is. For example, entering fathe? tells the search to look for any words that have a single letter after fathe (such as father but not fatherhood).

Search for author's last name or part of last name followed by an * (asterisk)
See using wildcards for more information.

Search for title of publication or part of title
Search for a publication by typing in the full title, or by typing in a word, words, or phrase in the title. The tips for keyword searches apply for the title search field. If commas are in the title, do not enter them in the search field.