What are Proximity Operators?
Proximity searching allow you to specify how close a search term appears in relation to another term contained in the of resources you find.
Proximity operators are shorthand notations used during a search that usually has a number to indicate how close search terms should appear.
There are two main proximity operators, NEAR and WITHIN. Each database may use a different notation to represent these operators.
Proximity Searching
The NEAR proximity operator is used when you want to find the occurrence of search terms close to a specified number of words, in no particular order.
For example, searching "technology N3 conference" finds all occurrences of the terms "technology and "conference" that are in 3 words of each other.
Results may yield: "technology conference", "conference of technology", "conference dealing with technology", etc.
Each database may use a different notation to represent this operator.
The WITHIN proximity operator is used when you want to find the occurrence of search terms close to a specified number of words, in a specific order.
For example, searching "hypertension W5 diabetes" finds all occurrences of the terms "hypertension" followed by "diabetes" within 5 words of each other, in that particular order.
Results may yield: "hypertension with juvenile diabetes", "hypertension in adult onset diabetes", "hypertension may lead to a predisposition for diabetes", etc.
Each database may use a different notation to represent this operator.