Search Tips

To get more specific search results, try using the following tips:

Check spelling Example: use environment rather than the incorrect enviroment   Use quotation marks Example: "internal revenue service"

Use plus (+) or minus (-) Example: +"bin laden"   Use wildcards Examples: law* *her* "wh* are"

Check spelling

Make sure your search terms are spelled correctly.

Example: environment (correct) instead of enviroment (incorrect)
Example: library (correct) instead of libray (incorrect)

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Use quotation marks

Use quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent to each other, for example, "internal revenue service". Otherwise, the search results will include the words internal, revenue, and service, but not necessarily in that order. The words may appear anywhere, and in any order, within the document.

Example: "internal revenue service"
Example: "environmental quality"
Example: "census monitoring board"

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Use plus (+) or minus (-)

Use a plus sign (+) when your search term or phrase must appear in the search results. Use a minus sign (-) to indicate undesirable term(s). The plus sign tells the search engine that a certain word or phrase is required in the search results, and a minus sign indicates that a word or phrase must be absent in the search results.

Note: A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. Leave no spaces between the plus or minus sign and the term.

Example: +commission +"intergovernmental relations"
Example: +terrorism -"al qaeda"

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Wildcard searches can expand the number of matches for a particular request. The * character is used as the wildcard character.

For instance, searching for law* will find the words law, laws, lawyer, lawyers and any other word that starts with law.
Searching for *her* will find the words here, whether, together, gathering and any other words that contain her anywhere in the word.

Wildcards may be combined with the standard plus (+) and minus (-) modifiers, quotes for phrases, as well as the field search specifiers.
+law* -*leg* will find all pages which have a word that starts with law* and which does not contain a word that contains leg anywhere in the word.
"wh* are" will find the phrases where are, what are, why are, etc.

Examples:
law*
*her*
"wh* are"

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