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Search Tips

Use correct spelling
The search engine will try to find words that sound similar to your search terms, but it is always best to try to spell the search terms correctly.

Use upper case or lower case letters interchangeably
Results will be the same
whether you use capital (upper case) letters or small (lower case) letters.
    alewife will find Alewife

Use multiple words
Results will be closer to what you want
if you use multiple words with different meanings instead of a single word.
    little river will find results that are closer to what you want than river

Use similar words
There will be more results that are relevant
if you use multiple similar words instead of a single word.
    wetland floodplain watershed will find more results that are relevant than wetland

Use quotation marks
Results will contain words which must be adjacent to each other (in a phrase)
if you use quotation marks around the phrase.
    "little river" will only find Little River;
    river will find Little River and other rivers

Use plus (+)
Results will contain a word or phrase,
if you use a plus sign.
Leave no spaces between the plus sign and the word or phrase.
Reminder: a phrase must be contained within quotation marks.
    +turtle +nest will find documents containing
    both turtle and nest.
    However, turtle nest will find documents containing
    turtle and nest, turtle but not nest, nest but not turtle

Use minus (-)
Results will not contain a word or phrase,
if you use a minus sign.
Use minus sign with care, because many pages on this website cover multiple subjects.
Leave no spaces between the minus sign and the word or phrase.
Reminder: a phrase must be contained within quotation marks.