You can use a Books search to find where a word or phrase appears across your entire Verbum library, or in particular fields within specific tools or sets of resources. Use Precise Search to perform exact, granular searches, or use Smart Search to find answers to a natural language query.
Note: The Books search was introduced in Verbum 10 and replaces, although is not exactly equivalent to, the previous Basic search capability.
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Open the Search Tool
From the Toolbar
Click the Search Tool icon in your toolbar. Select the Books tab.
From the Selection Menu
Select the word you'd like to study in your text and click Search in the Selection Menu. When the new search panel opens, make sure the Books tab is selected.
From the Context Menu
Right-click the word you'd like to study in your text and click Books in the Search section of the Context Menu.
Perform a Precise Search
Precise Search searches your library for exact words and phrases, and can use search operators. The required search syntax allows for very specific, granular searches. Toggle between Precise and Smart Search using the dropdown to the left of the search bar.
Search Parameters
There are three options to limit your search to particular fields: Books, Text Types, and Passages.
Limit by Books
You can limit or expand your search to specific resources by clicking Your Books. Type the name of the resource, collection, tag, or series you want to search in the dialog box that appears, or make a selection from the drop-down menu.
Limit by Text Type
Setting a text type search field determines what category of resource or part of a resource you would like to search.
To change your search field, click All Text to open the Search Field drop-down menu. Click the arrow icon to expand the options under Search Fields. For example, you can choose to search only article headings by selecting the check box next to Heading Text.
Limit by Passage
If you books you are searching contain biblical passage references, you can constrain the passages searched by using the All Passages menu (if the books do not contain passage references, this menu will not be present). Click All Passages to open a dialog allowing you to limit your search to a specific range of text.
Note: Depending on the books selected, the All Passages option may disappear.
Search Assistance
Verbum offers several tools to help you craft your search: Search Helps, Search Templates, and Search Suggestions. This section discusses the Search Operators that form the foundation of your Precise Search.
Search Helps
Search Helps (in the main search pane) provide basic guidance about how to construct your search.
Search Templates
Search Templates allow you to build a more complex search without having to know complicated search syntax. Select the kind of search you want to make, then enter your search terms in the dialog box that appears. Search Templates appear in the expanded Sidebar .
Search Operators
You can use search operators to create more advanced searches. For example, if you'd like to find a phrase containing two words, but you don't know the exact phrase, try typing [word] WITHIN 5 WORDS [word]. Your search results will display every occurrence where the two words you entered are mentioned within five words of each other.
Scroll below the Search Helps section in the main search pane to find tips on using search operators.
Learn more about search operators in this article.
Search Suggestions
Search Suggestions: As you type, Verbum will populate a list of suggestions to help you refine your search. For best results, select one of these. Otherwise, finish typing your search query and press Enter.
Search Results
There are six ways in which results can be presented - these provide different ways of grouping your results.
Group by Library
With this option, your results are grouped based on the "type" of book:
- Downloaded Books - books you have downloaded to the hard drive on your computer
- Cloud Books - books you own but you haven't downloaded
- Print Library - books you own in print and have added to your Verbum Library
- Personal Books - books you have created and added in to your Verbum Library
Open one of the sections to see results from books in that group - and in either the Downloaded Books group or the Personal Books group you can click a search result to open the associated book to that place.
If you click one of the results in the Cloud Books section, you are given the option to download it or to open it in the Web App.
If you click one of the results in the Print Library section, you get access to a preview of the book and the option to purchase it.
Group by Book
With this option, your results are shown by book and you have the option to sort results either by:
- Count: the number of search results in the book
- Title: showing results in alphabetical order of the book titles
- Rating: showing results with your highest rated matching books at the top (this assumes you have applied Ratings to books in the Library)
Open an entry to see the search results in that book and click one of the results to open the book to that place.
Group by Author
With this option, your results are shown sorted by author.
Open an entry to see the search results in that book and click one of the results to open the book to that place.
Group by Type
With this option, your results are shown sorted by type of book.
Open a grouping to see all the results in books of that type, ordered by relevancy, and click one of the results to open the book to that place.
Group by Series
With this option, your results are shown sorted by series.
Open a grouping to see all the results in books in that series, ordered by relevancy, and click one of the results to open the book to that place.
No Grouping
With this option, your results are shown, ordered by relevancy, without any grouping at all.
Click one of the results to open the book to that place.
Perform a Smart Search
Smart Search leverages AI to return the most relevant results to a natural language query. This search type works great when you need a quick answer to a question, or when you're not sure what search syntax to use.
Search Parameters
Smart Search allows you to limit or expand your search to specific resources by clicking Your Books. Type the name of the resource, collection, tag, or series you want to search in the dialog box that appears, or make a selection from the drop-down menu.
Search Assistance
Search Helps
Search Helps (in the main search pane) provide basic guidance about how to construct your search.
Search Suggestions
As you type, Verbum will populate a list of suggestions to help you refine your search. For best results, select one of these. Otherwise, finish typing your search query and press Enter.
Search Results
Synopsis
Verbum displays an AI-generated synopsis of the top results. Click the links to further explore sources, to copy the synopsis to your clipboard or to continue the conversation in the Study Assistant tool.
Article Links
Below the synopsis, Verbum lists results in order of relevancy. Hover over a result and click Summarize to generate a summary of the article, or click the title to open it.
Perform this search in Verbum
Additional Resources
- Verbum Help: Books Search