• Enter Only What You Need
  Use only the search options that you need—leave the others blank.
• Upper or Lower Case
  You can type uppercase or lowercase letters. Capitalization is ignored.
• Word Endings
  For different word endings, use the ? wildcard. For example: CANCER? to find cancer, cancers, cancerous, etc.
  Be careful about using the wildcard with short words: you might get more words than you want. For example, CAT? finds cat and cats, but also catalytic, catalog, categories, etc. Use CAT OR CATS for better results.
  Alternatively, you can use the # symbol to find words with no more than one character at the end. Example: BULL# finds bull, bulls, bully, but NOT bullet, bullets, bulletin, etc.
• Exact Matches
  When searching keywords, subject words, words in title, or company names, the system automatically looks for variations on phrases that you enter. For example, AIR FILTER? will find air filter, air filters, and filtering the air. If you want an exact match for a phrase, you can enter hyphens between the words. For example, AIR-FILTER? will find air filter and air filters, but not filtering the air.
• Non-searchable Characters
  A few special characters are not searchable, such as @, #, $, &, *, !, +.

• Use AND to find articles containing ALL of the words:
  INTERNET AND ADVERTIS? AND JAPAN finds articles that mention advertising on the Internet in Japan.
• Use OR to find articles containing AT LEAST ONE of the words:
  CANCER? OR NEOPLASM? finds articles that contain one or more of these words. Typically, you use OR between synonyms or words with alternate spellings.
• Use NOT to EXCLUDE articles that contain selected words:
  BULLS NOT CHICAGO BULLS finds articles about bulls, but excludes articles that mention the Chicago Bulls basketball team.
• Use Parentheses to group words together when you use different connectors:
  (KIDNEY OR RENAL) AND TRANSPLANT? finds articles mentioning either kidney transplants or renal transplants. Without parentheses, AND is processed before OR.

• Don't over-specify: use only the search options you really need—leave the others blank.
• Exclude "implied concepts": leave out words like research or effects.
• Check for misspelled words.
• Check the format of your entry: follow the Search Tips examples shown on the search page. Some search options require specific spacing and/or punctuation for correct results.
• Use more wildcards to search different word endings.
• Check that you are using parentheses correctly when you combine words with AND, OR, NOT.

• Include additional words with the AND connector to narrow down the results.
• Use additional search options, like a date range.
• If you used the Entire Text search option, change to the Main Subject or Title Words option. (You can use cut & paste from the Edit menu to do this.)
• If you combined words using AND, change to just a space between the words. For example, instead of MACINTOSH AND SERVER?, use MACINTOSH SERVER?
• If you searched on a phrase, try using hyphens between the words to get an exact match.
• Check that you are using wildcards correctly to search word endings; you might be using a word that is too short. Try using the # sign instead of the ?.
• Check that you are using parentheses correctly when you combine words with AND, OR, NOT.

To Save a Completed Search

If you want to return to the results of a search at a later time, you can bookmark the search's title list page. This will save all of the search words and requirements (dates, etc.) that you entered for the search so you won't have to reenter them. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the first title list page for the search (the page that shows the first ten titles).
2. In Netscape Navigator™, open the Bookmarks menu and choose Add Bookmark. In Microsoft® Internet Explorer, open the Favorites menu and choose Add To Favorites.
3. To return to the search, open the Bookmarks (or Favorites) menu and choose it from the list.

To Save a Blank Search Form

If a particular search form is one you expect to use frequently, you can bookmark it using your browser. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the search form you want to save.
2. Click anywhere in the frame containing the search form.
3. In Netscape Navigator™, click the right mouse button and choose Add Bookmark.
   In Microsoft® Internet Explorer, click the right mouse button and choose Add To Favorites.
   This will save the page under the search name, for example 'U.S. Company Profiles' or 'Aerospace Industry News.'
4. To return to the search form, open the Bookmarks (or Favorites) menu and choose the search from the list.

Important: This method will not save the search words or requirements (dates, etc.) that you might have entered in the form. To save a search you have completed in order to return to the same results at a later time, see the Save a Completed Search instructions above.

Records automatically display most recent first. The 'title list' shows brief information about the records, 10 titles at a time. You can easily go forward or back to see the other titles on the list.

• To display a single record, click its title.
• To display several records on the same page, click their checkboxes, then click Display Checked.
• To display all records on a page, click Display All.

After displaying full records, you can go back to the title list, but be sure to save or print the records before you display another one. If you reload or repost a records page, you will be charged again for the same information.

To save a records page, choose Save As... from the File menu. Then

1. Select a file location (the directory or folder where you want to save it).
2. Type a file name and choose a file type: HTML or Plain Text.
   HTML, or 'source' files (*.html, *.htm) include all the format indicators ('mark up'). Use this file type if you want to view the record again using your browser. (To view a saved record, choose Open Page... or Open... from the browser File menu.)
   Plain Text files (*.txt, other) include only the meaningful text in the record without any format indicators. Use this file type if you want to use the record in a word processing application. When you type the file name, be sure to enter .txt as the file extension.
3. Click OK.

To save a record that includes an image, first choose Save As... from the File menu, then follow the instructions above. This saves the text portion of the record; the image must be saved separately. To save the image file:

1. Position the mouse over the image.
2. Click the right mouse button to open the in-context menu.
3. Select Save Image As... (Netscape) or Save Picture as... (Internet Explorer). Files are in GIF format.
4. Select a location for the file and click OK.

To create an Alert:

1. Conduct your search.
2. When the title list page appears, click the Create an Alert... link.
3. Fill in the form and click Create Alert. If this is your first Alert, you need to provide your email address, name, and email software type. (See tips below.)
4. Check your email inbox for new Alert messages. You will receive each title list of new records as an email message file attachment, with one attachment per message. (If there are no new records on your topic, you will not receive a message.) If your email software supports inline MIME files, you can go directly to the title list from the email message.

To display a list of your Alerts or to delete one, click Help button and then click Manage Alerts. Or go from this page directly to Manage Alerts. Use this page to review a list of your active Alerts or to delete ones you no longer need.

Tips for selecting your email software:
If you use a PC and your email software is not on the list, select one of the four Generic options:

• MIME Attachment
• MIME Inline
• UUEncode
• No Attachment Support. This indicates that the title list will be sent in the text of the message, not as a separate file attachment.

Patents

1. The Patent Number entry form displays, containing a text box for entering up to 100 patent numbers. You may enter patent numbers directly or copy and paste them from another source.
2. Click Check Availability. A list of available patents is displayed. Choose the patent documents you want, enter an E-Mail Address and optionally a Subaccount and a Subject.
3. Click Place Order to complete the order. A confirmation number will be displayed. An email with links to the patent documents in PDF format will be delivered to the designated address within 20 minutes.

Other Documents

1. The Detailed Order Form displays, containing fields for entering:
   • Publication name
   • Volume, issue, pages, year
   • Document title
   • Author(s)
   • Special instructions, etc.
   If you prefer, you may use the Copy/Paste Order Form—this works well when you have a bibliographic citation on a search results page or other document. In this case, copy the citation and paste it into the text box on the order form. The description should be as detailed as possible.
2. Following the instructions on the Detailed or Copy/Paste order form, submit your order.
3. Use the Create New Delivery Profile option to add, edit, or delete delivery information.

• When you logon, enter your user ID, password, and a subaccount.
• If you are already logged on, click Help and then click Set Subaccount.

To change the subaccount at any time during a session, click Help and then click Set Subaccount.