WWW-queries (Altavista)

You can create queries in Alta Vista search in the following ways:

1. Simple search (or just search)
   • + signs in front of every word you want to be on the page e.g. +consumer +law +USA
   • - signs in front of every word that you don't want to be on the page +consumer + law -USA
   • By typing an asterisk (*) at the end of a keyword, you can search for multiple forms of the word. * e.g. +law or +laws? Just type law*
   • If you know an exact phrase, put the phrase in quotes, for example: "consumer laws in USA". Phrase searches may give more relevant results than you would get only by using separate words and + -signs
   • Notice! There is a difference between typing the search word with uppercase letters "LAPPLAND" or "lappland". When you use lowercase text, the search service finds both uppercase and lowercase results. When you use uppercase text, the search service only finds uppercase results.
2. Advanced search

   Boolean operators

   • AND: All the words combined with AND must appear on resulting pages. peanut AND butter finds documents with both the word peanut and the word butter.
   • OR: Finds documents containing at least one of the specified words or phrases. Peanut OR butter finds documents containing either peanut or butter.The found documents could contain both items, but not necessarily.
   • NOT: Excludes documents containing the specified word or phrase. Peanut AND NOT butter finds documents with peanut but not containing butter.NOT must be used with another operator, like AND. AltaVista does not accept 'peanut NOT butter'; instead, specify peanut AND NOT butter..
   • NEAR: Finds documents containing both specified words or phrases within 10 words of each other. peanut NEAR butter would find documents with peanut butter, but probably not any other kind of butter.