AoA Bibliographic Database

Search Database here.

• About the Database
• Tips for Searching
• What You Will Find in a Record
• How to Obtain a Copy of a Document

The AoA Bibliographic Database contains abstracts of materials produced by AoA grantees funded under Title IV of the Older Americans Act. Title IV supports demonstration, research, and training projects designed to promote the use of innovative ideas and best practices in programs and services for older adults.

At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language and acquaint you with the full power of Microsoft Index Server.

• Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type key* to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on.
• Search for all forms of a word. For example, in the form type sink** to find sink, sinking, sank, and sunk.
• Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: The closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.
• Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of surfing but not the Net, write the following query:

surfing AND NOT the Net

• Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for
  example:

Abbott OR Costello

This query finds all pages that mention Abbott or Costello or both.

• Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:

"system near manager"

Index Server will literally look for the complete phrase system near manager. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:

system near manager

Index Server searches all documents for the words system and manager.

• Use Free Text Queries if you want to enter queries using natural language. Index Server will examine your query, extract nouns and noun phrases and construct a query for you. With free text queries you can enter any text you want, from a proper question, to a string of words and phrases, without worrying about the query language. For example, if you type in the following query:

"How do I use the Index Server administration snap-in?"

Index Server will create a query for you automatically and begin the search. Note that when you're using free text queries, the regular query language features are disabled and keywords such as AND, OR, and NEAR are interpreted as normal words.

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Your search results will be made up of database records. Each record contains "fields" of information. Some of the fields are:

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Each abstract has a 5-digit accession number that is used to locate the original and/or duplicate copies of the material described. Send an email to AoA (aoainfo@aoa.hhs.gov) with the accession number and title, your name, mailing address and telephone number. We will respond with the estimated time of delivery for the material. Although there is no charge, we ask that you request no more than five documents at a time. Currently we are unable to duplicate video and other multi-media products. However, if a duplicate exists we will send it to you. You may also mail your request to:

US Administration on Aging
Office of Communications
Washington, DC. 20201
Telephone: (202) 619-0724

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