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Search Tips
To perform a search, type what you
are looking for into the search box:
To get more specific search results, try using the following tips:
Check spelling
Make sure your search terms are spelled correctly. If possible, the search engine
will attempt to find words that sound similar to your search terms, but it is
always best to try to spell the search terms correctly.
Use multiple words
Use multiple words when performing your search. The search results will return
more refined results from several words than from a single word. For example,
typing our services will return more relevant results than typing only
services. (Keep in mind, relevant results are returned even if they don't
contain all query terms.)
Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more relevant results you will
get back.
Example: safe secure private
Use
appropriate capitalization
Capitalize proper nouns. Lowercase words will match any case. For example, typing search will return all documents containing the words search, Search,and SEARCH. However, typing Search will only find pages where the word is capitalized
Use
quotation marks
Use quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent to each other,
for example, "our work in Africa". Otherwise, the search results will
include the word our, work, in, and the word Africa,
but not necessarily in that order. The words may appear anywhere, and in any
order, within the document.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for "any,"
"all," and "phrase," then quotes can only be used when the "any" radio button
is selected. Quotes are ignored if the Advanced Search Form "all" or "phrase"
radio button is selected.
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.
Note: If you are using the Advanced Search Form with radio buttons for "any,"
"all," and "phrase," then plus and minus can only be used when the "any" radio
button is selected. Plus and minus are ignored if the Advanced Search Form "all"
or "phrase" radio button is selected.
Use
field searches
Field searches allow you to create specific
searches for words that appear in a specific part of a document. A field search
can be performed on body text (body:), title text (title:), alt text (alt:),
meta description (desc:), meta key words (keys:) or URL (url:). The field name
should be in lowercase and immediately followed by a colon. There should be
no spaces between the colon and the search term.
Note: The field searches can only be followed by a word or phrase. Phrases must
be contained within quotation marks.
Note: if you are using the Advanced Search Form with a list box for the field
name, then field names can only be entered before a word or phrase when the
"any" option is selected. Specific field names are ignored if any other Advanced
Search Form field is selected in the list box.
Examples:
Use wildcards
Wildcard searches can expand the number of matches for a particular request.
The * character is used as the wildcard character.
For instance, searching for wh* will find the words what, why,
when, whether, and any other word that starts with wh.
Searching for *her* will find the words here, whether,
together, gathering, and any other word that contains 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. +wh* -se*ch
will find all pages which have a word that starts with wh and which does not
contain a word that starts with se and ends with ch. "wh* are" will
find the phrases where are, what are, why are,
etc.
[ || Pregnancy
|| Informed Choice || Infections
and Diseases || Quality of Care || Emerging
Issues ]
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AVSC | Site index | Publications
] [ Version Française | Versión
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