Exercise 4: Searching

Use keyword searches to find materials and processing methods.

  1. Click Search and find the material Polylactide by entering the search term in the Search box.
  2. Find the process Vacuum assisted RTM.

    The folder name is also included in the search. If the term appears in a folder name, all records under that folder will be returned. For example, a search for ceramic would return all records in the folder named Ceramics.

  3. Find materials for cutting tools.

    Text on the datasheet is also included in the search.

  4. Enter the search term alum*.

    alum* returns records starting with "alum", such as Alumina, Aluminum, and Alumino.

  5. Use other search operators to create advanced searches.
    The following search operators are available:
    Operator Description Example
    AND Finds both terms in a record. steel AND alloy will find results containing both the words 'steel' and 'alloy'
    OR Finds either term in a record. steel OR alloy will find results containing either the word 'steel', the word 'alloy', or both
    NOT Finds records that contain the first term but not the second. steel NOT alloy will find results containing the word 'steel' but not the word 'alloy'
    Phrase Search Finds a phrase in a record. The phrase must be enclosed in double quotes. "steel alloy" will find results with the words 'steel' and 'alloy' located next to each other
    Parentheses Parentheses serve to group terms. Parentheses cannot be empty. iron AND (ore OR cast) will find results with 'iron' that also contain 'ore' or 'cast'
    ? Wildcard character representing one unknown search character. Alumin? will find results containing Alumina or Alumino, but not Aluminum.
    * Wildcard character representing unknown search characters. Alum* will find results containing Aluminum, Alumina, or Alumino.
    Note: AND operators are automatically added when a search has two or more terms and no other operators have been entered.