Simple Search
Stemming
The simple search automatically truncates words when executing a search, e.g. common endings such as "-ment" are not stored in the search index and thus ignored. Search for "attachment" will thus also deliver results with the word "attach".
Which results are shown when I enter more than one search word?
When entering two words, both must be present in the item.
When entering 3 to 5 words, all except one must be present.
When entering 6 or more words, 75% must be present.
Sorting
The result list is sorted by relevance (other sorting options such as by issue date or title are provided) and depends on the position of the search word (e.g. in which metadata field it is present and whether it is present in the full text).
If you entered more than one search word, results that contain the words in proximity to each other are ranked higher.
Expert Search
Search within a certain field
Syntax: Field_Name:Content
Example: dc.subject:climate
Search for an exact phrase
Put the string you are searching for "in quotation marks".
Search fields with content
To retrieve all publications that contain a value in a certain field, use the asterisk.
Example: dc.subject:*
Search fields without content
To retrieve all publications that do not contain any value in a certain field, search for asterisk and prefix the field name with a minus.
Example: -dc.subject:*
Combined search
You can use parentheses and Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT to combine exact searches in different fields with each other.
Search for organisational units and organisational codes
We recommend to the use the Browse for Organisational Units option in the navigation on the left hand side. The tree displays all active organisational units within ETH Zurich.
When selecting a unit from the tree, all publications pertaining to this unit and its (active) subunits are displayed in the search results.
Additional filters can be applied to the result list.
If you want to search for a unit or code that is no longer active, please use the Advanced Filter "Organisational Unit".
If you want to search for an organisational unit including publications of its former, no longer active subunits, you can use the following search string: ethz.leitzahl:01234