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National Adult Literacy Database

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Search Tips

In general you can use the search box much like you would use Google's search box. You can type in a set of words and each must be found in some field in the database for the result to be a match.

However, there are some advanced features you can use to enhance the precision of your query.

Below is a list of features with an example or two on how they can be used to search our collections.

Type Example Notes
Fields title:change
location:calgary
scope:international
subject:"classroom materials"
Any words not prefixed with a field name will be searched across all fields. See the table below for a complete list of fields available.
Booleans (literacy OR report) AND sticht 'AND' and 'OR' must be in all caps; use parenthesis for precedence
Wildcards l?teracy
literac*
Use '?' for single character wildcards, and '*' for multi-character wildcards. Wildcards cannot be first character, e.g. '*libraries' will not work
Required values +location:calgary +title:change
+title:literacy -subject:aboriginal
'+' before term is like 'AND', '-' before term is like 'NOT'
Phrases "workplace literacy" Use quotes to search for phrases
Relevance boost title:workplace^2 location:calgary
Edit distance literacy~
libraries~0.8
Single words only; if unspecified, defaults to 0.5
Proximity "workplace literacy"~10 [both 'workplace' and 'literacy' within 10 words] Only works with quoted phrases; '~' also used for edit distance (see 'Edit distance' above)
Ranges title:{literacy TO workplace}
title:[literacy TO workplace]
use '[]' for inclusive, '' exclusive
Combinations sticht AND title:{literacy TO workplace}

Fields Available

Field Description
title An event's title
description A brief summary of the event
location The location where an event takes place
country
city
location
contact_info
subject View a list of subjects

Icon Legend

Icon Description
Relevance Conveys an event's relevancy to the searched query.
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Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.
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