News & Events

Using Filters to Refine Your Search

The main way we search for information is usually through keywords, the words we use to describe the content we want in our search results. But often, we also want to limit our searches to information that meets certain criteria. That’s where another important search tool comes in: Filters. 

Filters allow us to limit our search results only to results that have particular characteristics. You’ve encountered filters if you’ve shopped online—for example, if you’ve chosen specific sizes of clothes to shop for, or if you’ve ever set a price range for something you need to buy.

(source: UDC Bookstore)

You’ll encounter filters in library databases, too, and they can really help narrow down your search results to make them more specific. You’ll usually find them along the side of a page of search results:

(source: Education Source Ultimate database)

There are lots of possible filters, and available filters vary slightly from database to database. Three important filters to know about are:  

• Full text: Limits your search results just to things you have full, immediate access to in the database you’re searching. That is, it excludes items that are only available in other databases or through requests from other universities.
• Source type: Limits your search results to specific kinds of information, such as scholarly, peer-reviewed articles or newspaper articles.
• Publication date: Limits your search result to items published in a certain timeframe, such as the last five years.

Just as you can adjust your keywords to change up your search results, you can adjust the filters to broaden or narrow your search. Try them out!