Overview
Advanced search in TRILT helps you find more precise results by combining search terms, filtering specific fields, and narrowing down large result sets.
Use it when a basic search returns too many results or when you’re looking for something specific.
Quick answer
Use Advanced Search to:
- Combine multiple search terms
- Search within specific fields (e.g. title, description)
- Narrow or broaden your results using search operators
When should I use advanced search?
Advanced search is useful if you:
- Are researching a specific topic or programme
- Need to refine a large number of results
- Want to search by multiple criteria at once
How to use advanced search
- Go to TRILT and select Advanced Search
- Enter your search terms (you can use up to three fields)
- Choose how the terms relate to each other (AND, OR, NOT)
- Select fields if needed (e.g. title, description)
- Run your search and review the results
To return to a simpler search, select Basic Search.
Using AND, OR and NOT
These help control how your search terms are combined:
-
AND → narrows results (both terms must appear)
- Example:
climate AND policy
- Example:
-
OR → broadens results (either term can appear)
- Example:
teen OR youth
- Example:
-
NOT → excludes terms
- Example:
jaguar NOT car
- Example:
Using quotation marks (" ")
Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase:
-
"climate change"→ finds results with those words together - Without quotes → results may contain the words separately
Using brackets ( )
Brackets help you combine multiple search conditions:
(hip OR knee) AND surgery
This ensures the search behaves as expected.
Using the asterisk (*)
Use an asterisk to find variations of a word:
-
educat*→ education, educational, educator
Things to keep in mind
- Searches are not case sensitive
- Some common words (like “the”, “and”) are ignored
- You can adjust how results are displayed using sorting and filters