Be sure to use Caps for AND, OR, NOT when searching.
AND - searches for books and articles containing both terms. Example: "wild wild west" AND Sonnenfeld
OR - searches for one of the words. Example: "Empire Strikes Back" OR "Return of the Jedi"
NOT - exclude a term. Example: NOT "Michael Garrison"
Parenthetical notes () - excellent for OR or NOT searches. Like a math equation, the database will do this part first.
Example: ("Empire Strikes Back" OR "Return of the Jedi") AND "Star Wars"
Quotation Marks ""- Links words together in the search. Works best for phrases or proper names.
Example: "Return of the Jedi"
Example: "wild wild west"
Warning: You might exclude results. A search for "Christopher Thomas Howell" will exclude all results for "C. Thomas Howell"
Asterisk * - Allows you to search several word endings at once, without using OR repeatedly.
Example: film* will cover film, films, filmgoer, filmography etc
Example: Brit* will cover Brit, Brits, British, Britain, Britannia
Warning: You may get unexpected results. Brit* will also yield Brittany, Britons, and Britches. Virginia* will bring up articles on the Didelphis virginiana (Virginia opossum); A search for act* brings up 487 different terms, movie* includes 29 words, film* includes 74, camera 24, director 10,