Basic Search Instructions
- In the first text
box, enter a word or a phrase of any length. You can use a wildcard
character * (asterisk) for one or more characters in your search.
- Use the radio buttons
to choose where to search. The most broad results will be generated
by an "Any Text" search. Searching a particular category will
locate your search word or phrase solely in the indicated field
of the database.
- If you are using more
than one word or phrase, choose the operator you would like to
use to combine the two: either AND, OR, BUT NOT, NEAR, or FOLLOWED
BY.
- If you want to clear
your entries and start over, press the Clear button.
- To start your search,
press the Search button.
- A new page will be
created to display the results of your search.
- You can refine your
search and narrow down the results after the initial summary is
displayed.
Hints for Getting Better Results
- Searching ignores
case (e.g., upper, lowercase) and some punctuation.
- Watch your spelling!
If you type goverment instead of government, the
search engine won't find many matches.
- Use plurals or other
word endings. The search engine will not automatically search
for all forms of your word. If you are looking for information
about rationing, search for ration and rationing.
You could also use a wildcard to cover all variations of a word;
for example, ration*.
- If your search is
for an acronym, try searching for it twice. Search for OWI
and Office of War Information.
- If your search is
in English, search for both American and British spellings. Try
labor and labour.
Advanced searching options
|
