The following general tips address problems that can occur when using any of the search screens. If this information does not explain why you are getting zero results, scroll down farther to review explanations that are specific to the search screen you are using.
General Tips
Have you spelled all of the words in your search query correctly? For example, if you key Alzhimer's instead of Alzheimer's, there will be no matches on your word even though AgeLine describes thousands of books and articles focusing on Alzheimer's disease. (The search engine ignores the apostrophe, so Alzheimer's and Alzheimers retrieve the same items.)
Does AgeLine cover material on your search topic? To see whether AgeLine has material relevant to your search topic, start with a short search query (1-2 words) broadly describing your search concepts. The displayed search results highlight your search words and give you ideas for the best words to help you further refine your search.
In addition, you might click the BROWSE SUBJECTS button on the Advanced Subject Search or Multiple-Option Search screen and look through the Subject Index to see if there are terms that can be used to describe your search query.
Are you using the best search screen for your search? See the Help Topic Which Search Screen Is Best for Me?
Is your search query too long? When beginning your search session, queries with fewer words (1-2) will generally retrieve more items than those with more words. It is best to start with fewer words to get a sense of what information AgeLine has available on your topic. Once you have cast the widest possible net, the search can be narrowed by adding words in the search box and/or using the Limit Results boxes at the bottom of the search screen.
Did you click the CLEAR FORM button after your last search? If choices not relevant to your present search have been left on the search screen from an earlier search, they may give you unexpected results.
Have you given the search engine enough synonyms for your search topic? If your search concept can be represented by several synonymous words/phrases, try using all the synonyms, with each synonym separated by a semicolon. The semicolon will operate as a Boolean OR; that is, it will direct the search engine to look for all documents that have any of the synonymous words/phrases you entered in the search box.
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Example
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You want to find all AgeLine records related to financial planning for older adults. In addition to entering financial planning in the search box, you can enter synonyms for financial planning so the search engine has more access points for your topic. A good search query might look like this:
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financial planning; personal finance; money management
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Note: You do not have to enter a term for the concept "older adult" because the AgeLine database is already focused on older adults. |
Basic Search Screen Tips
Have you tried using singular, plural, and other forms in your search query, separated by semicolons? The semicolon will operate as a Boolean OR; that is, it will direct the search engine to look for all documents having any of the synonymous words/phrases you entered in the search box.
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Example
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cost of drugs; drug costs
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Is your spelling correct? An AgeLine Basic search looks for an exact match in the first 7 letters of each word in your query.
Advanced Search Screen Tips
Are you using the Boolean operators AND, OR , and NOT correctly? The choices AND, OR, and NOT between the search boxes are called Boolean operators, and they have specific functions. If you enter search queries in several search boxes on this screen, the Boolean operator you choose will affect how the search engine looks for your search topics. The default choice is AND, which will generally bring up fewer items than OR.
If you enter several phrases within one search box, a semicolon between the phrases will act as a Boolean OR.
If you are not familiar with how Boolean operators work and would like more information, see the Help Topic Using Boolean Operators to Search AgeLine
Have you tried using singular, plural, and other forms in your search query? The Advanced search engine is designed to add a truncation symbol at the end of all words that are 5 letters or longer, but adding the various known forms of a word or concept within a search box and separating them with semicolons will maximize your results.
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Example
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state tax; state taxes
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Multiple-Options Search Screen Tips
Are you aware that queries in more than one search box in this search screen are connected with an automatic Boolean AND? Boolean AND requires that all the queries linked by AND be found in every AgeLine record retrieved, although they do not necessarily have to appear close together in each record. So keep the search simple--enter only the information you need to bring up the record you want. For example, if you know the title, author, and year of publication of a book you want to search for, search using the title only. This should bring up the record you want. To also enter the author's name and year of publication into the search only increases the possibility of error (such as a typo) in your search query, which could result in zero results or other unexpected results.
Title Search Box
Have you entered a word in the Title Search box that is not in the title you are looking for? You do not need to type in every word of the title, and the words do not have to be in the correct order, but every word that you do type in must be in the title and spelled as it is in the title for the search engine to retrieve the correct document.
So, for example, to retrieve the record representing the journal article "Baby Boom Generation and Aggregate Savings," you can type any combination of words in the title, such as baby boom aggregate savings or aggregate savings generation, and retrieve the correct document. What will not work is to type in words that are like but are not identical to words in the title. So typing in baby boomers aggregate savings will not pull up this title.
A way to avoid this problem is to click on the BROWSE TITLES button under the Title Search box and look for your title in the title index. Once you have found it, mark it and click on the PASTE button. It will be automatically pasted into the Title Search box.
Journal Title Search Box
If you are looking for articles in a particular journal or magazine, click on the BROWSE TITLES button under the Journal Title Search box and look for the journal/magazine title in the journal title index. Once you have found the journal/magazine title, mark it and click on the PASTE button. It will be automatically pasted into the Journal Title Search box.
Author Search Box
Are you spelling the author's name correctly? There are two easy solutions to this situation:
( 1 ) You can click on the BROWSE AUTHORS BUTTON, find the author's name in the author
index, mark it, and click on the PASTE button to enter the name into the Author Search box.
Or
( 2 ) You can enter several possible variations of the author's name in the Author Search box,
separated by a semicolon, to ask the search engine to retrieve documents that have any of
those variations in the author field.
Are you using the author's first name and/or initials accurately, as they appear on his or her publication(s)? If the author does not have a common name, an easy solution to this situation is to type only the author's last name in the Author Search box. The search engine will retrieve all the publications by the author (and all the publications by other authors with the same last name), and you can find the publication you are looking for among them. Other alternatives, especially helpful if the author has a common last name, are ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) described in the paragraph above.
Subject Search Box
Did you inaccurately enter the Subject when typing it in? Subjects must be entered exactly as they appear in the Subject Index ( and in AgeLine's Thesaurus of Aging Terminology) . Either check your typing against the Thesaurus or click the BROWSE SUBJECTS button, mark the term you want in the Subject Index, and click the PASTE button to automatically enter the Subject in the Subject Search box.
Any Word Search Box
Is your search query too long? When beginning your search session, queries with fewer words (1-2) will generally retrieve more items than queries with more words. It is best to start with fewer words to get a sense of what information AgeLine has available on your topic. Once you have cast the widest possible net, the search can be narrowed by adding words in the search box(es) and/or using the Limit Results boxes at the bottom of the search screen.
Have you given the search engine enough synonyms for your search topic? If your search concept can be represented by several synonymous words/phrases, try using all the synonyms, with each synonym separated by a semicolon. The semicolon will operate as a Boolean OR; that is, it will direct the search engine to look for all documents that have any of the synonymous words/phrases you entered in the search box.
Advanced Subject Search Screen Tips
Did you inaccurately enter a Subject when typing it in? Subjects must be entered exactly as they appear in the Subject Index ( and in AgeLine's Thesaurus of Aging Terminology ). Either check your typing against the Thesaurus or click the BROWSE SUBJECTS button, mark the term you want in the Subject Index, and click the PASTE button to automatically enter the Subject in the Subject Search box.
Are you using the Boolean operators AND, OR , and NOT correctly? The choices AND, OR, and NOT between the search boxes are called Boolean operators, and they have specific functions. If you enter search queries in several search boxes on this screen, the Boolean operator you choose will affect how the search engine looks for your search topics. For example, the default operator, Boolean AND, requires that all of the subjects selected be present in an AgeLine item before it will be retrieved. Try pairing only two Subjects linked with AND before using the third search query box.
For more information, see also the following Search Help topics:
Which Search Screen Is Best for Me?
Tips for Using the Basic Search Screen
Tips for Using the Advanced Search Screen
Tips for Using the Multiple-Options Search Screen
Tips for Using the Advanced Subject Search Screen
Using Boolean Operators to Search AgeLine
Using the AgeLine Thesaurus of Aging Terminology to Construct a Search
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