ecoi.net allows you to
search the full text
of more than 410.000 documents. This page explains how to combine search terms and use filters:
How do I combine search terms?
Search terms may be combined using Boolean operators. Alternatively, you can use our search form's "
Easy Search
" option - more information on that option is available
in this blog post
.
AND
|
The AND operator (in all capital letters) is the connection used as default when no operator is given.
It finds documents containing
all
the search terms.
"Tamil Tigers" AND government AND talks
"Tamil Tigers" government talks
both lead to the same results: finding documents containing the phrase
Tamil Tigers
, and the term
government
, and the term
talks
|
OR
|
The OR operator (in all capital letters) finds documents containing
at least one
of the search terms
conscription OR desertion
finds documents containing either
conscription
, or
desertion
, or both
|
NOT
|
The NOT operator (in all capital letters)
excludes
search terms:
genocide NOT Darfur
finds documents containing the term
genocide
, but not the term
Darfur
|
How do I group search terms?
"..."
|
Quotation marks
define a group of words as
phrase
and search for the whole phrase.
"organised crime"
finds documents containing the whole phrase
organised crime
Alternatively, you can use our form's "
Easy Search
" option, which features a seperate field for phrases.
|
(...)
|
Search operators can be
grouped
logically using
parentheses
.
(queer OR lesbian) AND discrimination
finds documents containing the term
discrimination
, and one or both of the terms
queer
or
lesbian
|
"... ..."~n
|
Proximity Search
is represented by quotation marks, followed by a tilde ~ and a number.
It finds terms that are within a distance of n words from each other
"amnesty rebels"~5
finds documents containing the terms
amnesty
and
rebels
within a distance of
5
words from each other
|
How do I search for spelling variations?
ecoi.net's full-text search is supported by a bilingual thesaurus developed specifically for the context of COI: terms which are included in the
COI Thesaurus
are automatically searched in both English and German. Spelling variations and synonyms are also automatically included in your search for these terms. If necessary, you may switch off this feature by selecting "no" in the "Use COI Thesaurus" drop-down. To find out more, please read
our blog post on the COI Thesaurus
.
Furthermore, the following functions help you finding spelling variations:
*
|
Wildcard
search: an asterisk
*
serves as placeholder for any number of characters (from zero to many, within one word)
homosex*
finds documents containing words beginning with
homosex
, for instance:
homosexual
,
homosexuals
,
homosexuality
, as well as the German words
homosexuell
,
Homosexualitat
, etc.
|
?
|
Wildcard
search: a question mark
?
serves as placeholder for exactly one character within a word.
Sarkis?an
finds documents containing the English transcriptions
Sarkisian
or
Sarkisyan
as well as the German transcription
Sarkisjan
, for instance.
|
~
|
Fuzzy
Search, represented by a tilde
~
at the end of a word, helps to find words that are spelled in a similar way as your search term
Qanuni~
finds documents that contain, for instance,
Qanuni
as well as documents containing
Qanooni
|
How do I use filters?
You can refine your search using filters on:
- Country
- Source
- Document type
- Document language
- Publication date
You can select more than one filter, and you can choose how to apply the filters. For instance, you can either
limit
your search to maps, or
exclude
maps from your search, by selecting Maps as filter for "document type" and then choosing the appropriate operator in the drop-down.
As another example, you can select multiple sources and choose the "OR" operator (which is enabled by default) to receive documents from any of the selected sources. To exclude specific sources from your results, change the operator to "NOT".
Can I search in a specific field of a document? For instance, only in the document's original title?
Yes. You can search for terms appearing specifically in a document's original title, or in ecoi.net's brief description of a document. For more details, please see:
search syntax for specific fields
. Additionally, our "
Easy Search
" provides this function.
Searching for a document for which you know the ecoi.net ID
If you know the ecoi.net ID number of a document, you can access the document by searching for # followed by the number. For instance: To perform an ID-search for a report of the UN Security Council with the ecoi.net ID number 238354, you enter
#238354
into the search field and start the search. This will lead you to the following document:
https://www.ecoi.net/doc/238354
Search help leaflet
You can download the following two-page leaflet containing information on how to use ecoi.net's search:
ecoi.net search help leaflet
(PDF)