Apply More Precision to Your Searches

While you can use Boolean operators in the normal AltaVista search box, you
might find it easier to construct advanced queries by using a “fill in the form”
approach. AltaVista lets you do this from its home page (without going to the
Advanced Search page—discussed next) by means of its More Precision form.
Just click the More Precision link next to the Find button and then fill in the
blanks to search for all these words, this exact phrase, any of these words, or
none of these words. Click the Find button to initiate your search.

Fine-Tune Your Search with AltaVista’s Advanced Web
Search Page

Even more powerful searching is possible from AltaVista’s Advanced Web
Search page (www.altavista.com/web/adv/). This page lets you build your
query by entering keywords into a combination of text boxes. You can also create
a free-form Boolean query, select how your results are displayed, and
choose which domains or Web sites you want to search in. There’s also an
option to restrict your search to a specific date or time range—and it’s all as easy
as making the appropriate menu selections.
Filter AltaVista’s Search Results for Family Consumption

AltaVista’s Family Filter analyzes the results of any search and automatically
excludes those pages that contain adult or otherwise objectionable content. To
activate the Family Filter, click the Settings link on the AltaVista home page
and then click the Family Filter link. You can choose to filter all your results or
only multimedia (images, video, and audio) files. This last option is particularly
helpful when you’re searching for images or videos; these types of searches, for
whatever reasons, often return a fair amount of adult sites in their results.
Personalize Your AltaVista Search Results

You can customize what AltaVista displays on its search results pages by clicking
the Settings link on AltaVista’s home page. This opens the Settings page,
where you can change the language of your search results and AltaVista’s site
controls; turn on or off the Family Filter; determine how much information is
displayed about each listing; and determine how you want your results displayed.
Just make your selections and then click the Save Your Settings button.

Narrow Your Search Results with AltaVista Prisma
AltaVista employs a technology it calls Prisma to display a list of topics closely
related to your original query on your search results page. These topics are
actually the most common terms contained on the Web pages that match your
query. You can click these links to further refine your search.
When you click on a Prisma word, AltaVista automatically adds that word to
your original query and then displays a new set of results. For example, if you
search for dinosaur, one of the Prisma topics listed is Fossils. Click the Fossils
link and AltaVista displays a new page of results (about dinosaur fossils) that
are more targeted than your original results.
You can use Prisma to refine your search twice in a row. You can also choose to
search for the Prisma topic only (without invoking your original search) by
clicking on the >> link next to the topic.