Proximity operators are an important tool for focusing the results of free text searches, particularly in full-text databases. Sadly, there is little uniformity in the syntax for proximity searching across various database families. The chart below, created by DHC Head Bob Scott, provides a key to some of the databases found on the Columbia Libraries website. The first column indicates the publisher name and then a few of the resources from that publisher. The next column indicates the syntax for a search of records where the search terms occur within the indicated number of words in either order, and the third column provides the syntax when searching for words, where the second word must follow the first word.
| DATABASE PROVIDER | ANY DIRECTION | DIRECT ORDER |
| ACLS Humanities eBook | proximity search screen | proximity search screen |
| ALEXANDER STREET (American Film Scripts, Early Encounters, Women and Social Movements, etc. | menu choices on advanced search screen | |
| CAMBRIDGE (Collections, Histories, Journals) | "galileo inquisition"~10 | |
| CHADWYCK HEALY (PAO, LION, EEBO, Gerritsen, Patrologia Latina, etc.) | galileo NEAR.10 inquisition | galileo FBY.10 inquisition |
| CSA (Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, etc.) | galileo WITHIN 10 inquisition | |
| EBRARY | galileo WITHIN-10 inquisition | |
| EBSCO | galileo N10 inquisition | galileo W10 inquisition |
| FACTIVA | galileo near10 inquisition | galileo w/10 inquisition |
| FIND ARTICLES | "galileo inquisition"~10 | |
| FIRST SEARCH (WorldCat) | galileo n10 inquisition | galileo w/10 inquisition |
| GALE (ECCO, Making of the Modern World, 19th Century American Newspapers, etc.) | galileo N10 inquisition | galileo W10 inquisition |
| galileo AROUND(10) inquisition | ||
| JSTOR | "galileo inquisition"~10 (or from menu) | |
| LEXISNEXIS | galileo W/10 inquisition (or from menu) | |
| NETLIBRARY | NEAR (=terms in same sentence) | |
| OVID (Medline, Psycinfo, etc.) | galileo ADJ10 inquisition | |
| OXFORD (Oxford Scholarship Online, Oxford Reference Online, DNB, ANB) | NONE | |
| PAST MASTERS | NONE | |
| PROJECT MUSE | NONE | |
| PROQUEST (ProQuestDirect, Digital Dissertations, Historical Newspapers, APS, etc.) | galileo W/10 inquisition (or from menu) | galileo PRE/10 inquisition |
| SAGE FULL-TEXT | NONE | |
| WILSON (Readers Guide Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Omnifile Full Text Mega, etc.) | galileo<NEAR/10>inquisition |
For more information about proximity searching in online databases, and for information on which databases allow you to nest and use truncation, please see: Proximity Operators.
Questions? Stop by or call (212-854-2241) the reference desk Sunday-Friday 1-5 pm. Or Ask a Librarian.
Could someone add Literature Online (LION) to the Proximity operators table. Thanks. John T
Here is a lengthy version of the info:
LION allows you to use the following Proximity Operators: near and fby
near
To search for terms occurring in any order, and with no more than a specified number of words in between them, use the operator near, followed by a period, and then by the number of words you would like to allow in between. For example:
Keyword(s) in Work: sublime near.4 dreadful
Would retrieve all texts in which the words “sublime” and “dreadful” occur within four words of one another, such as:
For what was dreadful once is now sublime
fby
To search for terms occurring in the specific order in which you typed them, and with no more than a specified number of words in between them, use the operator fby, followed by a period, and then by the number of words you would like to allow in between. For example:
Keyword(s) in Work: sublime fby.2 dreadful
Would retrieve all texts in which the words “sublime” is followed by the word “dreadful” with no more than two words occurring between them, such as:
Sublime and dreadful on his regal throne
The list is organized by database platform, so LION is under “Chadwyck-Healy.” We were trying to keep the list from getting too long, but you’re right; a list organized by database title would be more useful. Thanks for the suggestion.