Advanced Search Features

Boolean Operators:

    [AND] This requires all terms to be in records retrieved.

    Example: Microsoft AND FrontPage AND Java  (All terms will be somewhere in all documents retrieved.)

    [OR] Allows either terms. Frequently used with parentheses.

    Example(1) Microsoft OR FrontPage OR Java (Retrieves records with any of the terms)

       Example(2) (Microsoft OR FrontPage) AND (Java OR ASP)
           (Retrieves either of the first two terms and either of the last two)

   [NOT]  This excludes terms

    Example:  (Java OR script) NOT applet
            (excludes mention of "applet" in records retrieved from first part of search)

    [Phrase searching]    Enclosing terms within quotes searches a phrase.

    Example:  "MS FrontPage" OR "Microsoft FrontPage"
            (Requires words to be retrieved in the same order as keyed)

    [Parentheses]  Operations between parentheses are performed first.  They are powerful search aids.

    Example: Java AND script OR (ASP OR "active server pages") NOT coffee
            (Records containing ASP or "active server pages" will be grouped first.  Then any matching records
            which contain both Java and script will be returned, as long as they don't contain "coffee".)

   Note:  There is a difference between the above search and this search:

           Java AND Script OR ASP OR "active server pages" NOT coffee

    Can you see the difference?  Here is another example:

    Java AND (FrontPage OR Microsoft)  is different from   Java AND FrontPage OR Microsoft