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Site Search Help
How To Search: Type words into the entry box that you want to search for, then click [Search].
If your search produced either incorrect or no results, try using a plural or
non-plural variation of the search terms. For example, if you searched for 'baseball
players', try 'baseball player' instead.
All Words:
Type one or more words and then click [Search] to find all of the words.
Or, you can use Booleans (see below). [All Words] is the default setting.
Exact Phrase: "..."
You can search for exact phrases by surrounding them in double quotes. Or, you can just type the words and select
[Exact Phrase]. Punctuation must be the same in order to be found between words, for example: "Smith, John"
Any Word:
Type one or more words and select [Any Words] to find any of
the words.
Boolean Operators: + -
Use + in front of each word or a quoted phrase that you require.
Use - in front of each word that you want to exclude.
Boolean Expressions: AND OR NOT ( )
Use AND, OR, NOT, (, and ) to form a Boolean expression. AND requires, OR allows, NOT excludes.
Use double quotes to protect the words "and", "or", or "not" in a phrase.
Examples:
|
Query |
Gets the documents with |
|
library card |
'library' or 'card' or both |
|
"library card" |
the phrase 'library card' |
|
+library +card |
'library' and 'card' |
|
+library -card |
'library' but not 'card' |
|
+copies -"tax forms" |
'copies' but not 'tax forms' |
|
(library OR card) AND NOT copies |
'library' or 'card', and without 'copies' |
Capitalization doesn't matter. The ranked results will come from a total match
on the words and phrases which you supply, so try to think of several specific
terms for your topic and spell them correctly. It may help to include important
plurals and derived words too, such as [address addresses contact contacting information].
Note: BCPL uses the
Picosearch hosting service. Picosearch provided most of the help content used to
design this web
page.
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Baltimore County Public Library, Towson Maryland USA
Last Revised: 25 January 2008
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