What is a Proximity Search in Records Management?

A Proximity Search in Records Management is a search that uses “AND” as the operator.  For example, if you enter the words “John Smith” in the search box and choose a Proximity Search, the system will look for any record where both John and Smith exist in the record. The Proximity options (the Any option and the 1 through 10 options) allow you to further narrow the AND search by indicating the number of words that can be between the words for which you are searching. If you are searching for “John Smith” and you choose the Proximity “Any,” the system will look for records where both John and Smith are anywhere in the Records Management record.  If you choose, Proximity “1," the system will look for records where both John and Smith are in the record but only one word separates them within the record.  If the record contains “John Turner and Margie Smith” in one field, a Proximity “Any” search will find “John Smith” but a Proximity “1" search will not.