AARP Policy and Research
Advanced Search Tips
Fact Sheet
Advanced Search offers numerous options for making your searches more precise and obtaining more useful results.
Keyword Field
| To Find This | Do This |
|---|---|
| Exact phrase | Insert quotes around the phrase: e.g., "social security" |
| At least one of your search terms | Insert OR between each word: e.g., transportation OR mobility |
| All of your search terms | Type all of your terms in the keyword field; the search engine automatically inserts AND between each term; the terms do not have to be adjacent: e.g., income and poverty |
| Certain terms excluded | Type AND NOT in front of the word you wish to exclude: e.g., “West Virginia” AND NOT grandparents |
| Variations on a term using an asterisk | Use an asterisk (*) with a word root or part of a word to retrieve variations of word endings: e.g., boom* retrieves boom, booming, boomers, etc. |
| Variations on a term using a question mark | Use question mark(s) in the middle of a term: e.g., wom?n will retrieve woman or women |
Author Field
| To Find This | Do This |
|---|---|
| Exact match of author’s name | Insert quotes around his or her name: e.g., “John Gist” |
| At least one author name | Type the name(s). The search engine automatically inserts OR between each word. e.g., John Gist retrieves records containing “John” OR “Gist” |
Publication Date Field
| To Find This | Do This |
|---|---|
| Report released within time frame | Select year and at least one other field (Keyword, Author and/or Publication ID) as the date field cannot be used alone. |
AARP Publication Number Field
| To Find This | Do This |
|---|---|
| A report by its AARP Publication Number | Type the exact number in the field (e.g., D18211). Wildcard characters (* or ?) do not work in this field. |