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Omni Search Tips

Search strategies and new tool features

Filters to Focus Results

Sort by 

The default Sort by option is Relevance.

Results are automatically sorted by relevance as determined by: 

  • Frequency of matching search words
  • Hierarchy of words in the record
  • Proximity of search words to one another 
  • A value score (query words in author, title, subject, date)

Note:  If you sort by Date-newest, you lose the relevance ranking.

Availability

  •  “Peer-reviewed" limits results to content that has gone through an academic peer-review process.
  • “Open Access" limits results to content that is freely available whether or not you are logged in to the Queen’s network. It may also be peer-reviewed.
  • Available in Queen's Library mean physically available and includes books, DVDs, posters, kits, artifacts, etc.

Resource Types

Resource Types are listed by frequency according to your current search and include: articles, audiovisual, books & ebooks, book chapters,  Example of where to click to select or exclude select specific resource types from a results list.conference proceedings, data sets, images, maps, newspapers, scores, reference entries (as from an encyclopedia or handbook), reviews, technical reports, theses & dissertations, and videos.

Move the cursor to the left of a resource type and click the box to select it. Move the cursor to the right and click the red check mark to exclude it.

Finding Newspapers

To search a specific newspaper, choose "Journal Search" from the top banner, type the exact title, then "Search inside" to retrieve topical articles within that single newspaper. 

Alternatively, perform a new search, then click "Newspapers search" at the foot of the Resource Type listings. This locates topical news articles within many newspapers. 

For historical newspapers, consult the comprehensive Newspapers guide.

Publication Date

Input a specific date range and select "Refine".

Subjects 

Example of where to click to select or exclude specific subjects from a results list.

Omni uses a combination of Library of Congress and medical subject headings and subject tags from article databases. Search results can  be narrowed through selection or exclusion of multiple subject headings.

 

Click to the left of a heading to select it. Click to the right to exclude it.

 

Author/Creator

Includes principal authors, corporations, and government agencies such as the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Queen's Library and Queen's Location

The Queen's Library tab shows where items are physically located. Queen's Location identifies the collections in which the items are shelved within a library. When a record is opened, you can select "Locate" to display the floor plan showing where the item is shelved.

How to determine in which Queen's library a resource is shelved as well as the collection in that library and the floor plan location.

Omni Libraries

Physical holdings of the 13 partner libraries are listed here. In the spring of 2020, interlibrary lending will be built into Omni for easy access to the resources at these consortium institutions.