Help with Searching

• Simple Expressions
• Wild cards
• Explicit Expressions
• Boolean Combinations
• Proximity Relationships

Simple Query Expressions

Simple queries allow end users to enter simple, comma-separated strings and use wild card characters. By default, a simple query searches for words, not strings. For example, entering the word "Micros" will find documents containing the word "micros" but not "Microsoft." You can use wild cards, however, to broaden the scope of the search. "Micros*" will return documents containing both "micros" and "Microsoft." Case is ignored.

You can enter multiple words separated by commas: software, Microsoft, Oracle. The comma in a Simple query expression is treated like a logical OR. If you omit the commas, the query expression is treated as a phrase, so documents would be searched for the phrase "software Microsoft Oracle."

Ordinarily, operators are employed in explicit query expressions. Operators are normally surrounded by angle brackets < >. However, you can use the AND, OR, and NOT operators in a simple query without using angle brackets: software AND (Microsoft OR Oracle). To include an operator in a search, you surround it with double quotation marks: software "and" Microsoft. This expression searches for the phrase "software and Microsoft."

Wild cards

? Question. Specifies any single alphanumeric character.

* Asterisk. Specifies zero or more alphanumeric characters. Avoid using the asterisk as the first character in a search string. Asterisk is ignored in a set, [ ] or an alternative pattern { }.

[ ] Square brackets. Specifies one of any character in a set, as in "sl[iau]m" which locates "slim," "slam," and "slum." Square brackets indicate an implied OR.

{ } Curly braces. Specifies one of each pattern separated by a comma, as in "hoist{s, ing, ed}" which locates "hoists," "hoisting," and "hoisted." Curly braces indicate an implied AND.

^ Caret. Specifies one of any character not in the set as in "sl[^ia]m" which locates "slum" but not "slim" or "slam."

- Hyphen. Specifies a range of characters in a set as in "c[a-r]t" which locates every word beginning with "c," ending with "t" and containing any letter from "a" to "r."

Wild cards as Literals

To search for a wild card character in your collection, you need to escape the character with a backslash (\). For example:

To match a literal asterisk, you precede the * with two backslashes: "a\\*"

To match a question mark or other wild card character: "Checkers\?"

Explicit Query Expressions

Explicit queries can be constructed using a variety of operators, including evidence, proximity, relational, concept, and score operators. Most operators in an explicit query expression are surrounded by angle brackets < >. You can use the AND, OR, and NOT operators without angle brackets.

Looking for a Phrase (' ')

You'll often be searching for a word pattern that appears just as you've typed it. Examples are full names or phrases. You can tell the engine to match your word pattern exactly by enclosing it in quotation marks. For example: 'David Hasselhoff'

The Boolean Query

The Boolean Query: the search engine can help you build more powerful searches by giving you tools called Boolean operators to influence how our software evaluates your request. ("Boolean" honors George Boole, a 19th-century British mathematician who suggested that logical thought could be expressed as algebra. As you'll see below, it seems logical.)

(Note: When entering your search queries, Boolean operators such as AND are not case-sensitive; we've put them in ALL-CAPS for emphasis. You can use caps or lower case when you type them in.)

Be Specific with AND, OR, NOT

AND. Joining search terms with the AND operator tells the engine that you want to find documents containing each term. (For example, Larry AND Curly AND Moe) This is similar to selecting "All the Words" in the drop-down menu. But, as you'll see below, AND can be used in conjunction with other operators for more powerful searching.

OR. Use OR when any of the search terms joined by the operator should appear in the results. This is similar to selecting Any of the Words in the drop-down menu. (For example, Chico OR Zeppo.) Like AND, OR can be used as a building block of more-complex Boolean expressions.

NOT. Use the NOT operator to exclude unwanted documents when your search uses a term commonly found in connection with an unrelated topic. For example, if you're not in the mood for laughs, you can improve a search for information on the author of The Communist Manifesto by entering Marx NOT Brothers.

Group Thoughts with Parentheses and Quotation Marks

As you explore the Web, your queries won't always be based on single words. The engine allows you to work with groups of words and phrases. And search operators can be used to evaluate such composite terms just as they can individual words. Here's what you can do:

Parentheses () are used to group and combine search terms. For example, you can dig up information on one or two famed Hollywood duos with this query: (Fred AND Ginger) OR (Roy AND Trigger) .

Quotation Marks ' ' or " ". Put quotation marks around a group of words and you've got a phrase. This is like selecting The Exact Phrase in the drop-down menu. However, using quoted phrases in conjunction with other Boolean operators offers additional flexibility. Try 'Smashing Pumpkins' AND Simpsons to find references to the band's incarnation as cartoon characters alongside Homer and Bart.

Find Relationships with NEAR, PARAGRAPH, SENTENCE and PHRASE

Frequently, the placement of words within a document reveals their relevancy to one another. The engine offers proximity operators to help define those relationships: NEAR, PARAGRAPH, SENTENCE and PHRASE.

Proximity operators specify the relative location of specific words in the document. Specified words must be in the same phrase, paragraph, or sentence for a document to be retrieved. In the case of NEAR and NEAR/N operators, retrieved documents are ranked by relevance based on the proximity of the specified words. Proximity operators can be nested; phrases or words can appear within SENTENCE or PARAGRAPH operators, and SENTENCE operators can appear within PARAGRAPH operator

NEAR. When you use NEAR (or NEAR/n), the terms must appear within 1000 (or n) words of each other in the results documents. So, searching for ("Kevin Bacon" <NEAR> game) will find web pages referencing a popular trivial pastime without having to get so exclusive as "Kevin Bacon game". For example, that NEAR query would find a match in this sentence: "Here's a neat game based on the movies of Kevin Bacon and his co-stars." But the query ('Kevin Bacon' <NEAR/2> game) will not find match this sentence.

PARAGRAPH. Selects documents that include all of the words you specify within the same paragraph. To search for three or more words or phrases, you must use the PARAGRAPH operator between each word or phrase. For example (advanced <paragraph> strategies) may return "Advanced Cooperative Learning Strategies".

PHRASE. Selects documents that include a phrase you specify. A phrase is a grouping of two or more words that occur in a specific order. For example: (mission <PHRASE> oak) may return "mission oak".