Field searching allows you to narrow your search even further by specifying where in a source you want to search for the keywords or subject headings. There are many different kinds of fields, but they vary from search engine and databases.
Usually a search engine or database will have a single search bar. In order to effectively and easily field search, you will want to find the 'Advanced Search' option. This will give you multiple fields to search in.
An example of advanced search fields in Academic OneFile.
You can select the fields that you want to search in and enter the terms you want to find there. This will stop it searching the entire document and instead only search in the field that you want (such as the subject, abstract, author, etc.) This allows you to be very specific about what you're looking for. Many of them will also include the Boolean operators for you to adjust as needed.
An example of a field search in Academic OneFile.
Search engines sometimes offer advanced search options like Google Advanced Search. While they don't offer the same number of options as databases, they still give you plenty of options to choose where you will search.
An example of advanced search fields in Google.
Common elements of search engines include last update (which is helpful for determining when pages that might not have that information readily available have been touched up) and site or domain (which is helpful for searching on a single site, such as a newspaper like the Globe and Mail).
