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Advanced Search Tips

Thank you for visiting naric.com! We hope you're able to find the information, resource, or document you need for your research or practice or to advocate on your own behalf or that of a loved one. If you're having difficulty finding the right resources, try these hints and instructions.

Choosing a Database or Resource Collection

What are you searching for? NARIC has several databases, plus individual pages on this site. Are you looking for:

Browse Options

If you're not sure what to search for, try browsing through our databases. Each has its own browse options:

  • In the Disability and Rehabilitation Literature (REHABDATA) database, you can browse by keyword, new acquisitions, journals, book publishers, and international journal and book publishers. 
    • Keywords are selected from the REHABDATA Thesaurus, a controlled vocabulary reflecting the terminology used by the disability and rehabilitation community.
  • In the Program Database you can browse by program type or outcome area.
  • In the Community Resources Database you can browse through resource types or resources by state from the search page. Leave the keyword field blank, select a resource type or state, and click search. 

Keyword Search

Each of our three databases have the same keyword search functions. You can search for some, all, or none of the words you want within any field or a specific field. You can add multiple keyword search criteria to narrow or expand your results.

  • all words: this will look for all of the words you entered in the fields you selected. The results will have all words in the selected field, or any number of the words across any field if you selected any. 
  • any words: this will look for any of the words you entered within the fields you selected. The result may have one, two, or all three words in any order and across any field if you selected any. This will return the most results. It's an excellent way to search for something that may have multiple terms (head injury, brain injury, brain damage).
  • exact phrase: this will look for all of the words in the exact order you entered with no other words in between within a field. 

Expanding or Narrowing Your Search

You can search for multiple terms across all fields or specific fields to get more results or to focus your search to get fewer results. Select Add Another Search Criteria to add a new keyword search blank, decide whether to search for all or any of the keywords or the whole phrase, and what field you want to search in, then choose how you want the database to combine your searches:

  • and: this will look for all of your search criteria together. For example, a search for spinal cord as a phrase in Abstracts and employment as a word in Descriptors will find all records with both of those criteria.
  • or: this will look for either of your search criteria. For example, a search for job accommodation as a phrase in Abstracts or workplace accommodation as a phrase in Descriptors will find all records with either criteria. Using or is an excellent way to expand your search to ensure you've covered a topic, especially one that may have many terms like job, employment, work, etc.
  • and not: this will exclude the criteria you selected. For example, a search for spinal cord as a phrase in Abstracts And Not employment in Descriptors will only return records that mention spinal cord without mentioning employment. Using And Not is an excellent way to narrow your search.

Partial Keyword or Wildcard Search

Our search function uses an asterisk (*) as the wildcard to search for variations of a word where it tells search to find words with the defined characters plus any character(s) where the * is placed.  Add an * (asterisk) at the beginning or at the end of your word. This is particularly helpful so you don’t have to define all of the different ways a keyword word could be used. A search for librar* will search for library, librarian, libraries, etc.

Additional Tools to Narrow Your Search

Each database has extra search options to help you focus your search for better results:

  • Disability and Rehabilitation Literature (REHABDATA) allows you to search within a range of publication years, or to return only records indexed with a NIDILRR Project Number, available to download in full text, or available for document delivery by mail. You can also add international search options.
  • NIDILRR Program Database allows you to search within a range of years, or to return only records of certain funding status (new, active, or complete), funding mechanisms, or outcome areas.
  • Community Resources Database allows you to search for specific types of resources or within a specific state.

Once your search is complete, you can also filter and search within the results.

Filtering Your Results

Our databases contain more than 300,000 records. If you need to narrow your search, try using the filters which appear on the left column of your brief results report. Each of NARIC's three databases offer searchers the option to filter their results based on criteria that appear in their results. Filtering options are grouped by categories specific to that database. For example: in the Program Database, you can filter your results by funding mechanism, outcome domain, keyword, investigator, start year, and funding level. Within each catergory you will see options which appear in your results. If your search included both Field Initiated Research Projects and Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, you will see both options in your filtering options under funding mechanisms. Each option displays the total records in your search.

Selecting one or more options within a category will return all records with any of the options selected (an OR search). If you selected both Field Initiated Projects and Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, you will see any records that have either one or the other. Selecting options in two or more categories will return all records with all of the options selected (an AND search). For example: if you selected Field Initiated Projects and Employment Outcomes, you will see any projects that are indexed using both terms.

Sharing a Link to Your Search Results

Our databases use session IDs to generate and display your results. Since each search is tied to a session, the long URL at the top of your browser may not work for the next person. Use the "Click to copy sharable link to clipboard" button at the top of your brief results page. This will copy a version of your link, including any filters you applied after your initial search results.

If you want to share a specific record, you can also remove all information in the long URL after the question mark (?) except for the record ID. For example:

https://naric.com/rehab-srch-results-rec?article_source=rehab&record_id=130975&load_source=form_search&search_id=478587&start_rec=0&user_name=public.user.1486004&international=0&drill_down=0&rehab_blank=0&intl_blank=0&filter_id=0 

becomes 

https://naric.com/rehab-srch-results-rec?record_id=130975

If you want to share the list of projects for a specific NIDILRR program, you can right click and copy the link from the Explore by Program and Outcomes page. 

Downloading Your Results in CSV

If you've reviewed your search results and are ready to share or save them, look for the link to "View and export all results." The next page will show your detailed report, along with a button to "Export All Records to CSV." This button creates a comma delimited file which you can open in your preferred spreadsheet program (i.e., Excel or Numbers). From there, you can import into a citation management program, use it for a merge, or conduct analyses. 

Searching for NARIC Publications

Articles and information resources published by NARIC staff can be searched from the search box at the top of every page. The first tab of your results will list pages on our website that may answer your question including:

  • Frequently Questions from the Community that we respond to every day from our patrons.
  • NARIC's News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond weekly newsletter.
  • Community Resource Topic pages.
  • Our publications including Research In Focus.
  • The NIDILRR Multimedia collection.
  • The NIDILRR Tools Collection of surveys, questionnaires, and other assessments.