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 the BCC Search Tool.

• Look for words with the same prefix. For example, in your query form type key* to find gin, ginning, ginner, ginners, 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 NEAR, rather than AND, for words close to each other. 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 heliothis but not heliothis punctigera, write the following query:

  heliothis AND NOT punctigera

• Add the OR keyword to find all instances of either one word or another, for example:

  armigera OR punctigera

  This query finds all pages that mention armigera or punctigera or both.

• Put quotation marks around keywords if you want them taken literally. For instance, if you type the following query:
  
  "system near manager"

  the BCC Search Tool will literally look for the complete phrase system near manager. But if you type the same query without the quotation marks:
  
  system near manager

  the BCC Search Tool searches all documents for the words system and manager.