The first time you search for a topic, only to be presented with a list of 13,526,889 Web sites that match your search string, you'll look for ways to narrow your search a bit.

To find exactly what you're looking for, it helps to know how the search engines interpret your query or search string. This chapter presents a basic discussion of the query language used by the popular search engines and a few simple tips to refine your searches.

Use the asterisk (*) wildcard to look for words with the same prefix. For example, type "edit*," to search for "edit," "editor," "editing," and so on.

Search for all forms of a word. For example, type "sink**" to find "sink," "sinking," "sank," and "sunk." Use the keywords NEAR and AND to find combinations of words. For example, type "system AND manager" or "system NEAR manager" to look for the words system and manager on the same page.

Put quotation marks around keywords if you want Index Server to take them literally. For example, type "rock and roll" if you want the word and to be included as part of your search string.

Use the AND NOT keywords to exclude certain text; for example, type "surfing AND NOT the Net" to find all instances of surfing but not surfing the Net.