The RDA Search Help page is here to guide you in finding the best way in which you can search for valuable information.

The Search area is broken into three categories. There is the Matches on all words (AND) , Matches on any word (OR) , and the search by use of a phrase. See below for examples.

All Words (AND match)

When you choose All Words in the menu, each of the search terms you type in should appear in the results. For example, if you search for Sweet Georgia Brown the results will contain documents that include the words Sweet, Georgia and Brown anywhere in the document.

Any Words (OR match)

Select Any Words in the menu and any (but not necessarily all) of the search terms should appear in the results. So if you use this option to search for Sweet Georgia Brown the list of results may contain documents mentioning only one of these terms. (But you'll notice that documents containing all three words will be ranked higher on the results list). This search will return an exceedingly higher number of searches compared to the other two options.

Exact Phrase

When you select Exact Phrase in the menu, the words you specify must appear adjacent and in the order you specify. Therefore, you will only get results for the exact phrase Sweet Georgia Brown. This search will return the fewest number of search results.