| Searching Guidelines | |
| EXACT TERM | A single term will return only those documents that include that exact term:
permit must contain the word "permit" |
| OR | Multiple terms will return only those documents that include at least one of the exact terms:
taxicab cat must contain the word "taxicab" or the word "cat", may contain both (Note: In more complex searches, "or" may also be indicated with parentheses; see COMBINTATIONS below.) |
| EXACT PHRASE |
A phrase surrounded by quotation marks will return only those documents that include the exact phrase within the quotes:
"taxicab permit" must contain the phrase "taxicab permit" |
| INCLUDE | A plus symbol before a term will return only those documents that include that term:
permit +taxicab may contain the word "permit", must contain the word "taxicab" +permit +taxicab must contain both the word "permit" and the word "taxicab" |
| EXCLUDE | A minus symbol before a term will return only those documents that exclude that term:
taxicab -permit must contain the word "taxicab" but cannot contain the word "permit" (Note: A minus symbol before every term will return zero documents.) |
| WILDCARD | An asterisk after a word will return any documents that include the exact series of letters in that word:
cat* must contain a word including the letters C-A-T (e.g., "cat", "cats", "bobcat") |
| COMBINATIONS | Combine the above to create more precise searches:
dog* -vicious must contain a word including the letters D-O-G (e.g., "dog", "dogs", "watchdog") but cannot contain the word "vicious" +"vicious dog" -rabi* must contain the phrase "vicious dog" but cannot contain any words including the letters R-A-B-I (e.g., "rabies", "rabid", "severability") +permit -taxicab -cat +permit -(taxicab cat) must contain the word "permit", but cannot contain either the word "taxicab" or the word "cat" +permit +(taxicab cat) must contain both the word "permit" and either the word "taxicab" or the word "cat", may contain all three |