Boolean Searches

Boolean search operators can be used in the Text Search, but not in the Fast Search. To insert a Boolean operator, open the Text Search dialog, and place your cursor in the field you want to search. Click the drop down list on the left side of the field (or press Ctrl+F3). Select the operator you want to insert by double-clicking or by using the arrow keys to scroll through the options and then pressing Enter. You can also enter operators by pressing Ctrl+F5, followed by a for and, o for or, x for xor, n for not. You cannot enter the Boolean operators (and, or, xor, not) by typing them directly in your search string (you can do this in Orbis, but not in Ibidem). Parentheses and wildcards are entered directly by typing them.

The following operators are available:

AND Search for records that contain both A and B in the specified field.

OR Search for records that contain either A or B in the specified field.

XOR (exclusive or) Search for records that contain either A or B, but which do not contain both A and B.

NOT The not operator has several consequences, depending upon its use.

•	[NOT] b finds all records that do not contain B in the specified field.

•	a [AND] [NOT] b finds all records that contain A except those records that also contain B

•	a [OR] [NOT] b finds all records that contain A and records that do not contain B

•	a [NOT] b is not a valid search. If the NOT operator is not at the beginning of a search string, it must be preceded by another operator.

TO Search for records within specified alphabetical or numerical range.

•	1900 [TO] 1950 in the year field finds all records published between 1900 and 1950 (including 1900 and 1950).

•	a [TO] czz in the author field finds all records with author's last names starting with a, b, or c.

BLANK Search for records where the specified field is blank. To search for a records where a specified field is not blank, enter the NOT operator and then the BLANK operator.

Parentheses: Use parentheses in your search string by typing in the parentheses.

•	a [AND] (b [OR] c) finds all records that contain A, provided that they also contain either B or C.

Wildcard: The asterisk (*) can be used as a wildcard at the end of a word, but not at the beginning or in the middle. The asterisk can also be used alone to search for records where the specified field is not blank (same as using the NOT operator and the BLANK operator).

•	Johns* in the author field will find any author name that begins with "Johns" (Johns, Johnson, Johnsen, etc.)

•	* in the keyword field will find all records where any keywords have been entered.

You can enter search terms in more than one field. By default, Ibidem will find records that match all criteria. However, if you want to find records that meet either criteria (not necessarily both) you can choose to join fields with OR instead of AND by selecting the OR radio button at the bottom of the dialog.

Subsets can be a useful tool in complex searches that involve more than one field. First conduct one search and create a subset of the results. Then search the subset.