? marks the spot..

Altavista US Help Page Basic help with forming a query. Use + in front of a word or phrase which MUST appear in the matched document, use - in front of a word or phrase which MUST NOT appear in the matched document.

Search terms prefixed by neither + nor - are optional, but pages with higher frequency of the query's search terms are given a higher relevance and appear earlier in the list of matched documents

Use quotes to enclose individual words when they form a phrase relevant to your search. Your searches can become very specific by employing these techniques.

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Above all, I must emphasize the benefit of READING the INSTRUCTIONS for the various search engines you may use. If the instructions don't seem to make sense, then revisit them after some practice with that service.