At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language Syntax.

• Put quotation marks around keywords if you want to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:
  
  "Easy Web"

  The search facility will literally look for the complete phrase  Easy Web. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:
  
  Easy Web

  The search facility searches all documents for the words  Easy or Web.

• Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type "key*" to find key, keying, keyhole, keyboard, and so on. Be sure to put quotation marks around your keywords.

• Search with the keyword NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: the closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.

• Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of surfing but not surfing the Net, write the following query:

  surfing AND NOT the Net

• Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:

  Easy OR Web

  This query finds all pages that mention Easy or Web or both.