The Find It Now keyword search options allow you to search for individual keywords. You can also search for ideas and concepts instead of just keywords by using more than one word in your search. The search engine uses Intelligent Concept Extraction (ICE) to find relationships that exist between words and ideas, so the results of a search will contain words related to the concepts you're searching for.
The search results are sorted by relevance. The results nearest the top will usually be the most relevant to your search. The percentage number will indicate how well the result matches your query.
Use more descriptive, specific words as opposed to general ones. For example, a search for "existentialism" will return more specific results than a search for "philosophy."
Try using advanced search techniques. These techniques allow you to require or exclude words, and to search for complex combinations of words. But be careful, it is often difficult to specify exactly what you want to include or exclude and you can easily eliminate a lot of information.
Use more words. The easiest way to narrow your search and the first thing you should try is to simply use more words in your query. The greater the detail you provide, the better the search engine is able to find precisely what you're looking for. But be careful here, if you get too specific you may overlook related information.
Use the "+" (plus) sign for words that your results MUST contain. Do not leave any spaces between the sign and the word.
Example search: History+America
Use the "-" (minus) sign for words that your results must NOT contain. Do not leave any spaces between the sign and the word.
Example search: Astronomy-physics
Use AND, OR, AND NOT, and ()
AND - Documents found must contain all words joined by the AND operator. This is equivalent to putting a plus sign in front of the word.
OR - Documents found must contain at least one of the words joined by OR.
AND NOT - Documents found cannot contain the word after the term AND NOT. This is equivalent to putting a minus sign in front of the word.
() - Parenthesis are used to group portions of queries together.
Please be aware that the search engine will scan all of the available information, so the results may not be what you expected. If you search for "philosophy" in order to find philosophy professors, you will also receive anyone who has the word "philosophy" in their records. For example you will receive anyone who:
has philosophy logged under academic or personal interests
has the word philosophy on their home page
has written something with the word philosophy in it. Ex. "The Philosophy of Cell Mitosis" will return the name of the author.