Site Search Help - ExplorOz

		Site Search Help
		Find out how to use the ExplorOz Site Search System

At its simplest, a query can be just a word or a phrase. But with the tips on this page, you can expand the focus of your query to give you more complete results. These tips will get you started with basic query language and acquaint you with the full power of ExplorOz Site Search system.

Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type simp* to find simple, simpson, simplest, and so on.
Search for all forms of a word. For example, in the form type sink** to find sink, sinking, sank, and sunk.
Search with the keyword AND or NEAR. For example, both of these queries, system and manager and system near manager, look for the words system and manager on the same page. But with NEAR, the returned pages are ranked in order of proximity: The closer together the words are, the higher the rank of that page.
Refine your queries with the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text from your search. For example, if you want to find all instances of surfing but not the Net, write the following query:

surfing AND NOT the Net
Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:
Abbott OR Costello

This query finds all pages that mention Abbott or Costello or both.
Put quotation marks around keywords if you want to take them literally. For instance, if you type the following query:

"Track near Birdsville"
ExplorOz Site Search will literally look for the complete phrase the track near birdsville. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:

Track near Birdsville
ExplorOz Site Search searches all documents for the words track and birdsville.
Use Free Text Queries if you want to enter queries using natural language. ExplorOz Site Search will examine your query, extract nouns and noun phrases and construct a query for you. With free text queries you can enter any text you want, from a proper question, to a string of words and phrases, without worrying about the query language. For example, if you type in the following query:

"How do I use the ExplorOz Site Search?"
ExplorOz Site Search will create a query for you automatically and begin the search. Note that when you're using free text queries, the regular query language features are disabled and keywords such as AND, OR, and NEAR are interpreted as normal words.