To get more specific search results, try using the following tips:
Check
spelling
Make sure your search terms are spelled
correctly. If Sound-Alike Matching is turned on, the search engine will attempt
to find words that sound similar to your search terms, but it is always best
to try to spell the search terms correctly.
Use
multiple words
Use multiple words when performing
your search. The search results will return more refined results from several
words than from a single word. For example, typing public housing
authority will return more relevant
results than typing only housing.
(Keep in mind, relevant results are returned even if they don't contain all
query terms.)
Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more relevant
results you will get back.
Example: safety secure privacy safe security protection
Use
appropriate capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns. Lowercase
words will match any case. For example, typing government
will return all documents containing the words government,Government,
and GOVERNMENT.
Use
quotation marks
Use
quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent to each other, for
example, "our promise to you."
Otherwise, the search results
will include the word our,
promise, to,
and the word you,
but not necessarily in that order. The words may appear anywhere, and in any
order, within the document.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for "any,"
"all," and "phrase," then quotes can only be used when the "any" radio button
is selected. Quotes are ignored if the Advanced Search Form "all" or "phrase"
radio button is selected.
Use plus (+) or minus (-)
Use a plus sign when your search term or phrase must appear
in the search results. Use a minus sign to indicate undesirable
term(s). The plus sign tells the search engine that a certain word
or phrase is required in the search results, and a minus sign
indicates that a word or phrase must be absent in the search
results.
Note: A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. Leave
no spaces between the plus or minus sign and the term.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for
"any," "all," and "phrase," then plus and minus can only be
used when the "any" radio button is selected. Plus and minus are ignored
if the Advanced Search Form "all" or "phrase" radio button
is selected.
Use field searches
Field searches allow you to create specific searches for words that
appear in a specific part of a document. A field search
can be performed on body text (body:), title text (title:),
alt text (alt:), meta description (desc:), meta key words
(keys:) or URL (url:). The field name should be in lowercase
and immediately followed by a colon. There should be no spaces
between the colon and the search term.
Note: The field searches can only be followed by a word or
phrase. Phrases must be contained within quotation
marks.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with a list box for the field
name, then field names can only be entered before a word or phrase when the
"any" option is selected. Specific field names are ignored if any other Advanced
Search Form field is selected in the list box.
Use
wildcards
Wildcard searches can expand the number
of matches for a particular request. The *
character is used as the wildcard character.
For instance, searching for wh*
will find the words what,
why, when,
whether, and any
other word that starts with wh.
Searching for *her*
will find the words here,
whether, together,
gathering, and any
other word that contains her
anywhere in the word.
Wildcards may be combined with the standard plus (+) and minus (-) modifiers,
quotes for phrases, as well as the field search specifiers.
+wh* -se*ch
will find all pages which have a word that starts with wh
and which does not contain a word that starts with se
and ends with ch.
"wh* are" will
find the phrases where are,
what are, why are,
etc.
