Help

Using the Search Feature

Searching for a word

Wildcard Searches

Searching for a phrase

Searching for documents that contain one or more search words or phrases

Searching for documents that contain all the search words or phrases

Combining Search Criteria Using Parentheses and Operators



Using the Search Feature

Type searched-for words or phrases in the textbox provided and either click the "Locate" button or press the ENTER key on the keyboard. A list of all documents containing the searched-for word or phrase will appear on the left-hand side of the screen.

To view a listed document, click on the solid block of color to the left of the document title.

When the selected document appears on the right-hand side of the screen you may find the first instance of the searched-for word or phrase by clicking on the arrow that appears in the banner located at the top of the document. By clicking on the arrows that appear on either side of the chosen word or phrase, you can move up or down through the document.

Searching for a word

To search for documents containing a specific word, type the word in the textbox provided and, using the mouse, click the "Locate" button.

The search engine will retrieve all documents containing the search word and words for which the search word is a root. Hence, search for the word "mission" the search engine will retrieve all documents containing the word "mission" as well as documents containing the word "missions," "commission," "commissioner," etc.

To search for documents containing only the word "mission," enclose the word within quotation marks when typing in the search textbox.

Only the documents containing the word "mission" will be retrieved but when traveling through the document using the arrow, words containing the search word as a root will continue to be highlighted.

Hyphens and other punctuation marks

When searching for hyphenated words you must enclose the word within quotation marks.

When searching for words containing punctuation marks such as the apostrophe in the possessive form of nouns, e.g. Commissioner's, do not include the punctuation. If you search for "Commissioner" the search engine will produce documents containing "Commissioner's." Other punctuation marks such as the period, comma, colon, and semi-colon should also be removed from the search term.

Wildcard Searches

If you want to search for several words with the same root, but with a variety of endings such as "mission," "missions," and "missionary," you may add the symbol * to the search word and enclose it with quotation marks, e.g., "mission.* The search engine will find documents containing only the word with a root that begins with "mission." If you want to search for several words with the same root, but with a variety of prefixes such as "mission" and "commission" you should type the * symbol before the word within quotation marks, e.g. "*mission."

As with other word searches, any word containing the root "mission" will appear highlighted on the screen even though only documents containing the word "mission" or a prefix plus "mission" will be chosen by the search engine.

Searching for a phrase

To search for a phrase, such as student records, enclose the search phrase within quotation marks in the text box . (e.g., "student records")

Searching for documents that contain one or more search words or phrases

To retrieve documents that contain any one of a number of search words, type the words in the textbox. For example, to locate all documents containing any one of the following words equal, harassment, teacher, or complaint, type the words in the textbox as follows: equal harassment teacher complaint . Put a space between each word but there is no need for commas.

If you are searching for documents with specific phrases as well as words, enclose the phrase in parentheses and type it in the textbox along with the other search words. There is no limit to the number or combination of search words and phrases that may be entered in the textbox. For example, search for the phrase "professional development" along with vacation, leave, or absence, by typing in the textbox: "professional development" vacation leave absence

Searching for documents that contain all the search words or phrases

To retrieve only documents that contain all the search words or phrases entered in the textbox, separate the words or phrase with the word "and". For example, "hazardous materials" and emergency and "communications plan"

Only documents containing all of the search terms or phrases will be retrieved.

Combining Search Criteria Using Parentheses and Operators

You may combine the use of and, or, and parentheses in the search criteria typed in the textbox.

For example, to locate all documents containing the word "emergency" and the phrase "communications plan" and all documents that contain the phrase "hazardous materials". The search request typed in the textbox should read: (emergency and "communications plan") or "hazardous materials"