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Search Tips for Britannica Online
Searching Britannica Online can lead you to a wealth of information. When you enter a keyword or phrase,
we search the entire text of the encyclopedias as well as magazine articles, videos, and thousands of Web
site reviews written by our world-class editors.
Standard Search
Enter one or more keywords for the topic that you are
researching into the Britannica Online Search box. Click on
the GO button, and Britannica Online will take you to the
Search Results page.
In the left column of the results page, you will find different
content sources including magazine and journal articles,
websites and other content. The encyclopedia articles
related to your topic are in the center, and on the right side
are media and video clips. To find additional materials,
click on the “More” links at the bottom of each content area.
Dictionary & Thesaurus Search
The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary and
Thesaurus is included in Britannica Online. You can access
the dictionary from the Home page by typing the word you are
looking for in the Search box, and selecting the MerriamWebster Dictionary option under the Search box. On the
Search Results page, you can also select various MerriamWebster options from the left column: Dictionary, Thesaurus,
or Quotations.
Kids Search (Public Library Edition only)
Britannica Online Public Library Edition has a special Kids
section, with materials at lower reading levels. The Kids
section is accessible when you click the “Kids” logo in the
upper-right corner of any page. You can choose either
Compton’s Encyclopedia by Britannica, written for middle
school students, or Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia written
for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The dictionary
used in the Kids section is the Merriam-Webster Student®
Dictionary and Thesaurus, which has age-appropriate
definitions.
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Not Sure Of The Spelling?
If you are unsure how to spell your keyword, or think
that you may have misspelled it, Britannica Online
offers a “Not sure of spelling?” feature. For example, if
you enter “elefant” instead of “elephant” into the Search
box and nothing comes up, click the checkbox next to
the “Not sure of spelling?” option, and click the GO
button. Britannica Online will try to correct the spelling
error and give the information you need.
Tips for Better Search Results
Use the following tips to improve your searches and get
better results.
• Use quotation marks around words or phrases if you
want them to appear word for word in your search
results. For example, “American Civil War”.
• Use Advanced Searches or construct complex
queries using Boolean operators. You can use the
Boolean operators AND (or +), OR, or NOT (or -) to
request the information you want.
• Searching is flexible. For example, you can use
uppercase or lowercase letters, singular or plural
words, full names or nicknames, and British or
American spelling.
Advanced Search
Using Advanced Search will allow you to easily construct
complex queries, change the number of results displayed
on each page, as well as change the content that will
display first in your search results. Click the link to
Advanced Search, enter words in as many search fields in
whatever combination necessary to create your search, and
click the GO button.
Advanced Search provides the following options:
• With all of these words: If you want to find information on a number of related topics, type in
several words related to you topic. For example, typing roosevelt churchill stalin will give you
results that feature all three leaders together.
• With the exact phrase: Your Search Results will limit your search results and return only articles
that have that exact phrase in them (this is the same as using quotation marks around your
keywords). For example, global warming.
• With any of these words: Any of the words that you type into this box will be included in the
entries provided. For example, enter renoir monet to find articles about either of these artists.
• Without these words: Any of the words that are entered into the box will not be found in the
Search Results. For example, enter china in the “with all of these words” option and porcelain in
the “without these words” option to exclude articles on porcelain in search results for China.
• With these words near each other: Entries that have these words close to each other will be
provided. For example, searching roosevelt churchill stalin gives you articles where their names
appear in close proximity.
For more information about searching in Britannica Online, go to the Search Tips online help
page by clicking the “Search Tips” or “Help” links at the top of most pages.
November 2008
Schools may duplicate as needed.
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