Scope

• Stop words are words that are not searched on at all by a database, though it is important to note their possible or probable existence in a phrase, as their position(s) can influence how one should construct a search. See the "The Old Man and the Sea" example below.
• There are a number of common stop words that are not searched on in Dialog, including the Boolean operators and, or, and not and the other words in the table below.
• Note that punctuation is also not searched on.

Stop Words

an	and	by	for
from	of	or	the
to	with

Problem: How do you search on a phrase that includes stop words?

• Use the (w) or () operator.
• Examples:
  • A search for "The Old Man and the Sea" could be done as follows:
    • s old(w)man(2w)sea

    A search for "U.S.A" could be done as follows:

    • s u()s()a