We use the keywords you enter to try and find exact matches. If you enter "events" we will list results that include the word "events". We ignore any punctuation in your search keywords. It doesn’t matter if you use uppercase or lowercase words because the search is not case-sensitive. Spelling does matter. So please make sure you are spelling your keywords correctly.
If you don’t use an advanced search (see below) we assume that the results must include all the keywords you enter.
| Keywords: | sports events |
| Results: | includes all matches including the words sports and/or events. This means that a result page could include one or both word(s) somewhere on the page or both words next to each other on the page. |
Used advanced searching options to more precisely describe your search request. Searches using advanced features usually find more precise results but may take longer than a simple search.
And, Or, Not
Use a mixture of the operator words AND, OR and NOT to broaden or narrow your
search.
| Keywords: | sports AND events AND location |
| Results: | includes matches with all 3 words anywhere within the page |
| Keywords: | dogs OR puppies |
| Results: | includes all matches with the word dogs or the word puppies, but not necessary both |
| Keywords: | surfing AND NOT the Internet |
| Results: | finds all instances of surfing, as long as surfing is not followed by the phrase the Internet. |
Near
You can look for words that are close to each other within a web page or
document by replacing the AND operator with NEAR. When you use NEAR, the closer
together the words are, the higher the rank of the page, so the higher it
appears in the list of search results.
| Keywords: | sports NEAR events |
| Results: | includes matches where the word sports is closely located to the word events. |
Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks around your search terms to find exact matches. You can also
use quotation marks if you want to use AND, OR, NOT, or NEAR literally.
| Keywords: | "sports events" |
| Results: | includes all matches that include the exact phrase sports events. |
| Keywords: | "houses near parks" |
| Results: | includes all matches with the phrase houses near parks. Without the quotes, this query would use the NEAR operator instead of the phrase. |
Asterisks
Include asterisks in your search terms to match multiple unknown characters and
broaden your search. Use a single asterisk (*) to look for words that begin with
the same letters. Use a double asterisk (**) to look for all forms of a word.
| Keywords: | key* |
| Results: | finds matches that include key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on |
| Keywords: | fly** |
| Results: | finds matches that include fly, flew, flown, and flying. |
If you are not finding what you expected, try the tips below to improve your search results.