Search Guidelines

These Search Guidelines provide insights and examples that enable you to make the most of the ACOL Search Facility.

Note that all searches are case-insensitive. The results, however, always show the capitalization as used in ACOL.
Example: A search for “course” or “Course” or even “CouRse” will yield the same results.

How to find a single word

A search for a single word lists all instances of the word in ACOL. Each instance includes the context in which the word is used
and a link to the full paragraph. From the full paragraph you can also view previous and next paragraphs.
Example: A search for “grass” lists instances in four different paragraphs.

If the word appears multiple times in the same paragraph, each instance is shown on a separate line.
Example: A search for “tapestry” lists four instances in three different paragraphs.

If variations of the word appear in ACOL, the search lists all instances of each variation.
Example: A search for “perfection” lists instances for each of “perfect”, “perfection”, and “perfectly”.

If the word does not appear in ACOL, the search may list instances of similar words that do appear.
Example: A search for “saint” lists instances for each of “sainthood”, “saintly”, and “saints”.
Example: A search for “centre” lists instances for each of “center”, “centered”, “centeredness”, “centering”, and “central”.

How to find a specific word

To search for a specific word exactly as you enter it with no variations, precede the word with “+”.
Example: A search for “+perfection” lists only instances of “perfection”.
Example: A search for “+saint” lists no results; but a search for “+saintly” lists only instances of “saintly”.

How to find a phrase

To search for a phrase you must enter the words, including any punctuation, exactly as it occurs in ACOL. The search lists all instances of that phrase in ACOL.
Example: A search for “more and more” lists all instances that contain that exact phrase.
Example: A search for “more, and more” lists no results, because that exact phrase including the comma does not occur in ACOL.

How to refine your search

If the search for a word or phrase lists too many results to be useful you can refine your search by adding a refining term preceded by “+”.
Example: A search for the word “paradise” lists 20 results; a search for “paradise +adam” lists just two results.
Example: A search for the phrase “more and more” lists 12 results; a search for “more and more +truth” lists just two results.
Example: A search for the word “course” lists hundreds of results; a search for “course +was spoken” lists just three results.

Note that although the refining term you add may be word or a phrase, it is searched for as a precise pattern of characters.
Example: A search for “course +free” lists seventeen results, which include the pattern “free” within the words “freed”, and “freedom”.
Example: A search for “create +centre” returns no results; but a search for “create +center” lists twenty results.
Example: A search for “body +I” lists hundreds of results, which include the pattern “I” within the words “itself”, “spirit”, “identity”, etc. In this case merely switching the terms
to search for “+I +body” yields about 60 results.

You may search for a specific word (using the initial “+”) as well as a refining term (using a second “+”) in the same query.
Example: A search for “children +parent” lists about forty results; a search for “+children +parent” lists just three results.