<h1>Helpful Searching Tips</h1>

<ul class="HelpMenu">
  <li><a href="#Wildcard Searches">Wildcard Searches</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Fuzzy Searches">Fuzzy Searches</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Proximity Searches">Proximity Searches</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Range Searches">Range Searches</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Boosting a Term">Boosting a Term</a></li>
  <li><a href="#Boolean operators">Boolean Operators</a>
    <ul>
      <li><a href="#AND">AND</a></li>
      <li><a href="#+">+</a></li>
      <li><a href="#OR">OR</a></li>
      <li><a href="#NOT">NOT</a></li>
      <li><a href="#-">-</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

<dl class="Content">
  <dt><a name="Wildcard Searches"></a>Wildcard Searches</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>To perform a single character wildcard search use the <strong>?</strong> symbol.</p>
    <p>For example, to search for "text" or "test" you can use the search:</p>
    <pre class="code">te?t</pre>
    <p>To perform a multiple character, 0 or more, wildcard search use the <strong>*</strong> symbol.</p>
    <p>For example, to search for test, tests or tester, you can use the search: </p>
    <pre class="code">test*</pre>
    <p>You can also use the wildcard searches in the middle of a term.</p>
    <pre class="code">te*t</pre>
    <p>Note: You cannot use a * or ? symbol as the first character of a search.</p>
  </dd>
  
  <dt><a name="Fuzzy Searches"></a>Fuzzy Searches</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>Use the tilde <strong>~</strong> symbol at the end of a <strong>Single</strong> word Term. For example to search for a term similar in spelling to "roam" use the fuzzy search: </p>
    <pre class="code">roam~</pre>
    <p>This search will find terms like foam and roams.</p>
    <p>An additional parameter can specify the required similarity. The value is between 0 and 1, with a value closer to 1 only terms with a higher similarity will be matched. For example:</p>
    <pre class="code">roam~0.8</pre>
    <p>The default that is used if the parameter is not given is 0.5.</p>
  </dd>
  
  <dt><a name="Proximity Searches"></a>Proximity Searches</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>
      Use the tilde <strong>~</strong> symbol at the end of a <strong>Multiple</strong> word Term.
      For example, to search for route and wetlands that are within 10 words apart:
    </p>
    <pre class="code">"route wetlands"~10</pre>
  </dd>
  
  {literal}
  <dt><a name="Range Searches"></a>Range Searches</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>
      To perform a range search you can use the <strong>{ }</strong> characters.
      For example to search for a term that starts with either A, B, or C:
    </p>
    <pre class="code">{A TO C}</pre>
    <p>
      The same can be done with numeric fields such as the Year:
    </p>
    <pre class="code">[2002 TO 2003]</pre>
  </dd>
  {/literal}
  
  <dt><a name="Boosting a Term"></a>Boosting a Term</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>
      To apply more value to a term, you can use the <strong>^</strong> character.
      For example, you can try the following search:
    </p>
    <pre class="code">route wetlands^5</pre>
    <p>Which will give more value to the term "wetlands"</p>
  </dd>
  
  <dt><a name="Boolean operators"></a>Boolean Operators</dt>
  <dd>
    <p>
      Boolean operators allow terms to be combined with logic operators.
      The following operators are allowed: <strong>AND</strong>, <strong>+</strong>, <strong>OR</strong>, <strong>NOT</strong> and <strong>-</strong>.
    </p>
    <p>Note: Boolean operators must be ALL CAPS</p>
    <dl>
      <dt><a name="AND"></a>AND</dt>
      <dd>
        <p>The <strong>AND</strong> operator is the default conjunction operator. This means that if there is no Boolean operator between two terms, the AND operator is used. The AND operator matches records where both terms exist anywhere in the field of a record.</p>
        <p>To search for records that contain "route" and "wetlands" use the query: </p>
        <pre class="code">route wetlands</pre>
        <p>or</p>
        <pre class="code">route AND wetlands</pre>
      </dd>
      <dt><a name="+"></a>+</dt>
      <dd>
        <p>The "+" or required operator requires that the term after the "+" symbol exist somewhere in the field of a record.</p>
        <p>To search for records that must contain "route" and may contain "wetlands" use the query:</p>
        <pre class="code">+route wetlands</pre>
      </dd>
      <dt><a name="OR"></a>OR</dt>
      <dd>
        <p>The OR operator links two terms and finds a matching record if either of the terms exist in a record.</p>
        <p>To search for documents that contain either "route wetlands" or just "wetlands" use the query:</p>
        <pre class="code">"route wetlands" OR wetlands</pre>
      </dd>
      <dt><a name="NOT"></a>NOT</dt>
      <dd>
        <p>The NOT operator excludes records that contain the term after NOT.</p>
        <p>To search for documents that contain "route" but not "wetlands" use the query: </p>
        <pre class="code">route NOT wetlands</pre>
        <p>Note: The NOT operator cannot be used with just one term. For example, the following search will return no results:</p>
        <pre class="code">NOT route</pre>
      </dd>
      <dt><a name="-"></a>-</dt>
      <dd>
        <p>The <Strong>-</strong> or prohibit operator excludes documents that contain the term after the "-" symbol.</p>
        <p>To search for documents that contain "route" but not "wetlands" use the query: </p>
        <pre class="code">route -wetlands</pre>
      </dd>
    </dl>
  </dd>
</dl>
