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Factiva

Access to the Factiva database and tips on using it.

Factiva Search Syntax

Most databases are similar to Google and will search for all the terms you enter. Factiva searches for your terms exactly as you enter them, so you need to use its special syntax for the best results.

Combining Terms

Factiva searches for text exactly as it is entered in the search box. You must use the Boolean operators And, Or, or Not to combine phrases.

Term Usage Example
And Both terms must appear Cubs and White Sox
Or Either or both terms will appear Midway or Jackson Park
Not Term will be excluded Hyde Park not New York

 

Proximity

Proximity operators let you look for words that are close to each other. This can often be more precise than combining terms with AND.

Term Usage Example
same Terms must be in the same paragraph Chicago same Hyde Park
w/# Terms must be within 1-10 words of each in the order entered william w/3 harper
near# Terms must be within 1-500 words of each other, in any order Seattle near5 Amazon
/F#/ Terms are in the first 1-500 words in an article University of Chicago /F50/

Wildcards

Wildcards are used to replace characters or look for roots of words. Because Factiva searches for exact matches, you need to use wildcards to look for plurals or spelling variations.

Special Character Usage Example
* (asterisk) Searches for any number of characters after the asterisk manufactur*
Finds manufacture, manufacturing, manufacturers
$# (dollar sign) Searches for stem plus 1-9 characters earn$2
Finds earned but not earning
? (question mark) Replaces 1 character, use for variant spellings globali?ation
Finds globalization or globalisation

 

Term Frequency

Term frequency allows you to specify the number of times a term appears. More occurrences of a term usually means an article is more relevant. These terms must be combined with "and"

Term Usage Example
atleast atleast followed by 1-50 then your term atleast10 midway
Midway must appear at least 10 times
WC Word count. Specify how many words must appear with > or < followed by a number. WC > 500
Articles must be greater than 500 words
WC < 10000 (do not use commas)
Articles must be less than 10,000 words -- useful for excluding transcripts

 

Factiva Expert Searches

Factiva features pre-built searches for narrowing a search Click on Factiva Expert Search in the search options to expand the choices.

Factiva Expert Search options

The news sentiment search is an easy way to find articles on a person or topic with a negative or positive slant.