Information Literacy HSU Library Glossary Databases that have adjacency or phrase searching will retrieve two or more words typed next to each other.
Some databases automatically do adjacent searches.
Special commands can be used in other databases to do adjacent searches. Some databases do not have this capability at all. Check the database system Help screens or documentation for details. In a database without adjacency, the example above will find both hearing aids and a Senate hearing on AIDS . Databases that do not have adjacency usually have an implied AND between two or more words.