General
Site searching locates information on the Southern Star web site. It is intuitive and easy, yet powerful. It supports quick, simple searches as well as ANY/ALL/EXACT selections, +, -, and Boolean expressions.
Making the Query
Enter the words that you are looking for in the box, then click [Search]. If you need more room, don't worry - the box will scroll. Searches are case insensitive, so capitalization doesn't matter. Hyphenated words are broken into separate words. Wildcards are not allowed.
Any Word: Type one or more words to find any of the words. [Find ANY word] is the default.
All Words: Type one or more words and select [Find ALL words] to find all of the words. Or you can use a Boolean expression.
Exact Phrase: Type the phrase surrounded by double quotes. Or type the phrase and select [Find EXACT phrase]. Punctuation must be the same to be found between words, for example "Smith, John".
Boolean Operators: Use "+" in front of each word or quoted phrase that you want to require. Use "-" in front of each word or quoted phrase that you want to exclude.
Boolean Expression: 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" when used in a phrase.
Stemming: This automatic feature gives your searches the power to match related word forms. Ex: "search" would find "search", "searched", and "searches".
Spell Checking: If the query has obvious spelling errors but it still found some results, you will be offered an alternative spell-corrected query to try. If there were no results the alternative spell-corrected query will be searched automatically.
Within Results: Once you have completed your initial search you will have the option of starting a new search or continuing the search within the results you have already found. The default is a new search. Select "Within results" to continue the search.
Viewing the Results
The results are displayed in order of relevance, by default. You can select to order them by date, instead.
Relevance is based on the matches found for the words and phrases which you supplied. If all of the search words are found in a document it will be weighted higher than a document which contains only some of the words.
Uniqueness of words is also taken into account. Rarer words are considered more important.
Miscellaneous
In case you are curious, this site search is based on
To search the web in general we recommend using
