Using proximity search

Proximity searching looks for the co-occurrence of search terms. You can look for places where one term is followed by another. You can look for places where words are not near and not followed by other words.

For example:

• NEAR: If you want only those texts in which the terms Henry and divorce appeared relatively near each other, search those terms using the NEAR operator within 40, 80, or 125 characters (so, this might find texts that comment on Henry VIII's many divorces as well as the making of the Church of England).

• FOLLOWED BY: To find those terms only when one follows another, select the operator FOLLOWED BY. Queen* followed by Cleves would help you locate only references directly concerned with Anne of Cleves's failed marriage to Henry.

• NOT NEAR, NOT FOLLOWED BY: To find all occurrences of a term when it is not followed by another closely associated term, you may use the proximity operators NOT NEAR or NOT FOLLOWED BY. For instance, if you were interested in finding out information on divorces other than King Henry VIII's, a search for the term divorce NOT NEAR Henry would yield all occurrences of divorce when not directly referring to Henry's.

Related topics: