or Boolean OR logic operator. Searches for records containing either of the words it separates.
not Boolean NOT logic operator. Searches for records containing
the query word preceding it without containing the word following it.
adj Adjacency operator. Searches for records in which the query word that follows it appears immediately after the word preceding it.
w/n Proximity operator. Searches for word pairs in which the pair's second term occurs within a specified number of words after the first. Example: amphibian W/5 DNA finds records in which DNA occurs within five words after amphibian.
* Wildcard operator for strings; matches any string. Examples: micro* matches microscope, microcomputer; *late matches relate, translate.
+ Stemming operator; forces a word stem. Example: run+ finds run, runs, and running.
# Exact match operator; forces an exact word match. Example:
run# finds run, but not runs or running.
Click the "Tips" hyper link next to the site name to go to that site's
specific help instructions.
If you select more sites than can be returned to your browser, when you return to a previously generated results page, you will be prompted to "Repost Form Data?". If you see this message and click "Yes", your previously used criteria will be generated again. If you click "No" you must return to the main search page to run another search.
In order to maximize a slow and expensive Internet connection, you may want to print your results page for review once you have disconnected. Run a couple of searches, printing the results of each search. Then you can review your results off-line and return to only the sites that gave you the results you were looking for. Rather than print a results page, you can save the file locally by clicking "File", "Save As" on your browser toolbar. Save the HTML file on your local hard drive. You can examine it later by choosing "File", "Open", "Browse" from you browser toolbar even if you are disconnected from the Internet. However, you must reconnect to the Internet in order to use any of the links and view the actual document.
In general, BE PATIENT. Each search engine that you check will
be run sequentially. This may mean that a single search may take
up to 5 minutes.