To perform a search, type what you are looking for into the search box.
To get even more specific search results, try using the following tips:

Check spelling
Make sure your search terms are spelled correctly.

Use multiple words
Use multiple words when performing your search. The search technology will return more refined results from several words than from a single word.

For example, typing use of discipline in high schools will yield more relevant results than typing only discipline or schools. (Keep in mind, relevant results are returned even if they don't contain all query terms.)

Use similar words
The more similar words you use in a search, the more results you will get back.

Capitalize when appropriate
These examples, when all lowercase, have a variety of possible nterpretations. Capitalization reduces the ambiguity. Be sure to place a comma between unrelated capitalized words since the search engine treats adjacent capitalized words as if they formed a single phrase or name. It is always a good idea to capitalize proper names.

Use quotation marks
Use quotation marks to find words which must appear adjacent to each other, for example, "parents guide." Otherwise, Inktomi will find pages that include the word parents and the word guide, but not necessarily in that order. The words may appear anywhere, and in any order, within the document. This is the most powerful query refinement technique.

Use plus (+) or minus (-)
Use a plus sign when your search term or phrase must appear in the search results. Note: A phrase must be contained within quotation marks. Use a minus sign to indicate undesirable term(s). Leave no spaces between the plus or minus sign and the term.

The plus sign tells the search engine that a certain word is required in the search results, and a minus sign indicates that a word is not desired. The plus sign can also be used to make sure your search term or phrase is not misinterpreted. In this example you can use the reject operator (the "minus" sign) to eliminate the systemic reform interpretation, and you can require that the word curriculum be in the document.

Use a comma to separate names
Separate proper nouns with a comma to indicate different names and ensure the best results. If no comma is included, the example will be treated as a phrase: White House George Bush, rather than White House and/or George Bush.

Use the pipe ( | )
Use the pipe (|) key to refine your search results in one step. The pipe (|) key is located near the backspace key on many keyboards.

Like the search these results option, the pipe narrows your search results. For example, typing education|vocational tells the search engine that you are searching within the broad category of education for the specific subject vocational.

Use search these results
Use the search these results option to refine your results. You will find this option on the search results page, above the search box.

For example, typing students will yield approximately 35,000 results. By selecting search these results and typing gifted into the search box, you are telling the search engine to "search for gifted within the broader topic of students." You are narrowing your search of students from a general category down to a specific category.

Using the pipe (|) will perform the same function.

Use field searches
Field searches allow you to create specific, unique searches. A field search can be performed on a link, site, URL, title, or ALT. The field name should be in lowercase and immediately followed by a colon. There should be no spaces between the colon and the search term.

Note: The field searches can only be followed by a word or phrase. Phrases must be contained within quotation marks, or be capitalized names. Example: alt:White House, title:"department of education"

Example: link:askeric.org
Use link: to find all pages that have links containing your search term. The example link:askeric.org will return results that have links to AskERIC.

The link: field search is useful in finding out who is pointing to your page. For example, if you were the Webmaster for AskERIC and would like to find who is linking to your page, you could perform the search: +link:askeric.org -site:askeric.org

This would return pages that are linked - but are not a part of - AskERIC's site. By typing -site: you are excluding any pages that have that search term in the URL.

Example: site:urban.org
Use site: to find all pages within a particular site. The site: field search only examines the "site" part of the URL. For example, site:urban.org will find sites such as www.urban.org, ncss.urban.org, and newfederalism.urban.org, but not urban.com.

Example: url:reading
Use url: to find pages that contain your search term in the URL. Searching for url:reading will return pages with URLs containing the word reading.

This refines your search results and makes them more relevant. There are many pages which contain the word reading, but which may not be entirely devoted to the subject of reading. If the word reading is in the URL, there's a good chance that particular page is about reading.

Example: title:"student guide"
Use title: to find pages that contain a specific word or phrase (use quotation marks) in the page title. Typing title:"student guide" will return pages that have the phrase "student guide" in the title portion of the document.

Example: alt:"ED Home"
Use alt: to find pages that contain a specific word in the picture label. Typing alt:EDHome will find pages that have pictures labeled with the word EDHome.

Both title: and alt: can be used in conjunction with other search tools in order to find specific information. For example, typing +title:Virginia +schools will return pages that have Virginia in the title, and the word schools in the page, giving you, of course, pages about schools in Virginia. Typing +alt:George Bush +education will find pages that include the proper name George Bushin the picture label, and the word education in the text of the document.

Use quotation marks if you are looking for a specific phrase in a document title or picture label. For example, title:"student financial aid" returns pages with student financial aid in the title, whereas title:student financial aid returns pages with only the word student required in the title.