Econlib Search FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Searching Econlib

What’s New?

If you have not used the Econlib Search tools in a while, you will find them completely overhauled and improved as of May 2019. Previously the search tools did not search materials such as the EconTalk Highlights, and did not do a reliable job with the Econlib books or other site areas. The new Econlib Search tools are more thorough and reliable. The URL for the new Econlib Search tool is
http://search.econlib.org/search.

What is searched?

All major areas of Econlib are searched. That includes the Econlib Articles, EconLog, EconTalk, the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, the Videos, and the Books and Essays.

• Are the EconTalk Highlights searched?
  

  Yes, the EconTalk Highlights are now fully searched.

• Are the EconTalk Guests’ names searched?
  

  Yes, the EconTalk Guests are fully searchable by name. You can also target materials by a specific guest by entering the guest’s name in the Author field.

• Are EconLog and EconTalk comments searched?
  

  Unfortunately, comments by readers of the EconLog or EconTalk posts are not currently searched when using the Econlib Search tool. Your comment is online and on the website, but your Econlib search results will not return a page hit for it. So, no, right now, if you search for your name or nickname, you will not find any hits for the comments you wrote on EconLog or EconTalk.

I received an error message when using the Econlib Search Form

• No results found
  

  If you found no results, please check your spelling. Please also remove any limitations or restrictions. For example, if you specified a title or author, you may have specified that incorrectly.

• Limit of 100 results reached
  

  Please target your results to a specific area of Econlib. So, if you have previously searched the whole site, select a smaller site area to target your search.

  Or, use quotation marks to specify your search term more clearly.
  Or, add more search terms. So, if you used just one search term before–say, immigration–try using more search terms such as
  immigration Mexico
  or
  immigration southeast asia
  or
  immigration congress

Using the Search Form: Syntax

• Are all my search terms searched?
  

  All your keywords–that is, your search terms–are searched for except for very short words of only a few letters. If you type in more than one word, e.g.,

  macroeconomics money
  all pages with both the word ‘macroeconomics’ and the word ‘money’ will be found.

• How do I search for an exact phrase?
  

  Use quotation marks to surround an exact phrase, as in

  “comparative advantage”
  or

  “division of labor”
  to require that a whole phrase will be found exactly.

  Using quotation marks forces the search to find only pages that have your search terms appearing exactly as you type them. Leaving out the quotes means the search may also find results where your search terms appear in a different order or in different paragraphs.

  Tip: If you find a lot of hit or results for a phrase, enclosing it in quotes can speed your work by reducing the number of results you have to look through.

• Does it matter if I use upper or lower case?
  

  Case does not matter in any of the fields. The same pages will be found regardless of whether you enter

  Adam Smith
  or

  adam smith

• Are only some of my search terms searched? If I type in multiple keywords, say,
  macroeconomics money
  are all pages with either the word ‘macroeconomics’ and the word ‘money’ returned as hits? So, are there some pages in the results that might contain one keyword but not the other?

  To be answered

• If I type in a word that is missing a final ending, will partial words be found? So, if I type in “macroeconomic” will the search results include results for “macroeonomics”?
  

  To be answered

Results page options

• How many hits are returned per page?
  

  Currently, there is a maximum of 100 hits returned. They are all returned on the same page. If you hit that limit, you can revise your settings to improve your results.

• Can I change the number of results (hits) on a page?
  

  No. Right now, there is a maximum of 100 results (hits) returned. If you hit that limit, the best thing to do is to revise your search form to limit those hits.

• Can I sort my results?
  

  Currently there is no way to sort your results.

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