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Power Search
Date
Searching | Light Stories |
Boolean | Proximity | Wild Cards | Fields | Type
| Sorting | Examples
|
Date
Searching |
When searching by date, it is most effective to use
the following date format: YYYYMMDD
Example: 19980101
Examples of date field
searches on EZ Search: |
Description |
Example |
Specific date |
williams:by and date=19990206 williams:by
and 19990206:date |
Range of dates |
senior resources and date > 19970701 and
date < 19970901 |
Before a specific date |
voucher and date < 19990101 |
After a specific date |
cisneros and date > 19990101 |
Day |
spurs and
sunday:day | |
|
Searching for Stories
before 1997 |
From the Power Search screen, choose the year(s)
that you want to search from the "Choose Database(s)" box.
- To search consecutive years, i.e. 1993-1995, click on 1993,
hold your shift key down and click on 1995.
- To search non-consecutive years, i.e. 1993 and 1995 but not
1994, click on 1993, hold your Ctrl key down and click on 1995.
- To search all years, choose the "All Years" option in the
Choose Database(s) box.
Examples of date field searches on Power
Search: |
Description |
How to |
Specific date |
Click on Date Range. Enter same date in both
Start Date and End Date fields. |
Range of dates |
Click on Date Range. Enter appropriate dates
in Start Date and End Date fields. |
Before a specific date |
Click on Date Range. Enter a date in the End
Date field. Leave the Start field blank. |
After a specific date |
Click on Date Range. Enter a date in the Start
Date field. Leave the End Date
blank. | |
|
Searching for Stories from
the San Antonio Light |
If you are looking for stories that ran in the
San Antonio Light (1989-1993), go to the Power Search
screen. Scroll to the bottom of the "Choose Database(s)" box, select
the year(s) of the Light data that you would like to
search. |
|
Boolean operators |
Boolean operators permit you to create more complex
queries and can be combined with wild cards and proximity operators.
You can enter a more complex query that combines Boolean operators
in the search box on the EZ Search screen or in the Words Anywhere
box on the Power Search screen. See the list of Boolean operators
below. |
Operator |
Definition |
Example |
And |
Both terms must be present in the
story |
Congress and economy and policy
|
Or |
Either term must be present in the
story |
Parliament or government |
Not, And Not |
The word(s) following this operator
cannot be present in the story |
Bill and Gates not Microsoft
| |
|
Proximity operators |
Proximity operators allow you to specify just how
close two words must occur in a story to be included in your
results. See the examples below. |
Operator |
Definition |
Example |
same/n |
Words must occur within the same paragraph or
within a certain number (n) of paragraphs from each other |
Campaign same contributions
Clinton same/2 China |
notsame |
Words must not occur in the same paragraph |
Clinton notsame Gore |
w/n |
Ordered word proximity - Word 1 occurs within
a certain number (n) of words before word 2 |
Market w/3 share |
near/n |
Unordered word proximity - Word 1 occurs
within a certain number (n) of words before or after word 2
|
drunk driving near/10
teenagers | |
|
Wild cards |
Use wild card characters to find various forms of a
word or when you are uncertain of the spelling of a word. |
Operator |
Definition |
Example |
* |
Fills in any number of ending
characters |
Pollut* finds pollution,
polluting, pollutant |
! |
Finds related words and includes
those in search |
run! finds run and related words
like marathon, jog, etc. |
? |
Fills in any single character |
Wom?n finds woman or
women |
" |
Finds exact match of a term |
gun" finds gun not guns or
gunned or gunning |
' ' |
Finds exact phrase |
'setting it
straight' | |
|
Field searching |
Search by fields to narrow your search results. You
can search by fields from both the EZ Search and Power Search
screens. In Ex-Files, you use the same format when searching in any
field:
word or
phrase:field name |
Field name |
Description |
Example |
Lead |
Beginning of a
story |
scandal and
teacher:lead |
Headline (head) |
Headline of a
story |
SAWS:head |
Byline (by) |
Byline or author of
the story |
Lunsford:by |
Section (sect) |
Section of the
newspaper |
Cisneros and A
section:sect
spurs and sports:sect |
Date |
Publish date of the
newspaper |
chris williams and
19990205:date |
Page |
Page story ran
on |
voucher and
01a:page |
Type |
Story type |
rick casey and
column:type |
Caption (capt) |
Caption of photos
that ran with a story |
Henry
Cisneros:capt | |
|
Controlling sort order |
From the Power Search screen, you can control the
sort order of your results.
Newest to oldest: Will return stories in
reverse chronological order. Stories that were most recently
published will appear at the top of your result list.
Oldest to newest: Will return stories in
chronological order. Stories that were most recently published will
appear at the bottom of your result list.
Relevance: Will return stories in an order that best
matches the search terms you have requested. The more frequently
these terms appear in a story, the higher its rank in the result
list will be. The most recent story may not appear at the top of the
list. |
|
Examples of combined field
searches: |
Description |
Example |
Looks for all
stories where economic occurs within 5 words of indicators and
in the business section |
Economic w/5
indicators and business:sect |
Looks for a story
written by Jeanne Russell on vouchers that ran on the first
page |
vouchers and Jeanne
Russell:by and 01A:page |
Look for a story
that mentions a lawyer who successfully prosected a drunk
driving case. A picture of Joe Smith ran with the story. |
(lawyer or attorney
or prosecutor) and convict* w/5 drunk driv* and joe
smith:capt | |