In order to search for a specific phrase within the eISB, the phrase should be enclosed in double quotes.
For example: "Presidential election"
In order to search for a specific phrase within the eISB, the phrase should be enclosed in double quotes.
For example: "Presidential election"
Boolean operators are supported by the search. Use capital letters for Boolean operators.
AND
Boolean AND logic operator. Searches for records containing both of the words it separates.
For example tax AND refund.
OR
Boolean OR logic operator. Searches for records containing either of the words it separates.
For example money OR finance
NOT
NOT logic operator. Searches for records containing the query word preceding it without containing the word following it.
For example tax NOT income.
?
Wildcard operator for a single character; matches any one character.
For example wom?n will produce results for woman and women.
This is also useful for searching for words which may have an accented character, e.g. fadas – Á á.
*
Truncation symbol. The * symbol represents any number of subsequent characters (limited to the same word). Be careful where you put the *, as you may retrieve too many, or too few, documents. The * is generally put the end of the word root.
Its location may depend on whether you wish to search for a word variant (administration, administrator) or for a regular plural (patent, patents): for example fish*, admin*, rail*, patent*
The eISB defaults to an exact word search. This means that a search for fish only retrieves fish (not fishing, not fishes, not fisheries etc.).
Please note that this also applies to plurals. A search for the word patent does not retrieve patents.
If you wish to carry out a search to include word variants and regular plurals etc. use the * truncation symbol. The * symbol represents any number of subsequent characters (limited to the same word).
For example, type the root of the word and then * with no space between them. See the examples below, with and without the truncation symbol.
Example 1: A search for the word fish will retrieve fish only.
A search for the word fish* will retrieve fish, fishes, fishing, fisheries etc.
Example 2: A search for the word patent will retrieve patent only.
A search for the word patent* will retrieve the words patent and patents
Unordered proximity search
To search for 2 words within a certain number of words of each other in any order: "insurance contract"@5
To search for 3 words in proximity to each other in any order: "insurance contract cover"@10
Ordered proximity search
To search for 2 words within a certain number of words of each other in a specific order: "insurance contract"/5
It is not possible to carry out a three word ordered proximity search.
The SOLR search engine views accented and non-accented characters as distinct characters.
For example, a search for the word 'Dáil' is not the same as a search for the word 'Dail'.
To retrieve both above spellings of the word you should use the wildcard '?' to replace the accented character, and carry out a search for the term 'D?il'.
The wildcard represents one single character and will therefore retrieve both Dáil and Dail.
Please note however, that the search with the wildcard D?il will also retrieve words with any character in place of the “?”.
Please note that wildcard operator is not effective when it is part of an exact phrase search, i.e., when enclosed in double quotation marks.
Many common punctuation marks and characters, for example ' ( ) % + , @, are ignored by the search engine.
Combine a Title field search and a Title / Text field search
It is possible to carry out a search combining the Title field and the Title / Text field. By default the search engine combines these two search fields with the AND operator.
This can be used to find Acts / SIs which have a particular word or phrase in the title and which also have a particular word or phrase in the body of the Act / SI. Limit to Act / SI as necessary.
Combine a Search by Number (Act or SI) field search and a Title / Text field search
Using this you can also search for a particular word or phrase in the body of a specific Act (or SI). Enter the number of the Act you wish to search within the Search by Number field.
Enter the year of the Act in the Start Year and End Year in the Search Date Range fields, for example, for Act 6 of 2008 enter 2008 in the start year field and 2008 in the end year field.
Enter the required word in the Title / Text search field.
Limit to Act / SI as necessary.
Note: remember if you are searching for an exact phrase, enclose it in double quotation marks.