Fine-Tune Your Search with Boolean Operators

AltaVista has always been one of the most powerful search engines around.
This is because AltaVista recognizes a full range of Boolean operators, which
you can use to create a more targeted query from within the normal search box.
We’ll look individually at each of the Boolean operators you can use in your
AltaVista searches.
AND
You use the AND operator to find pages that contain both (or all) of the specified
words or phrases. For example, to search for pages that contain both the
words “microwave” and “oven,” enter microwave AND oven.
OR
You use the OR operator to find pages that contain at least one of the specified
words or phrases—in other words, to conduct an either/or search. For example,
to search for pages about either microwaves or ovens, enter microwave OR
oven.
AND NOT
This is a little different than what you might be accustomed to. While many sites
recognize the NOT operator, AltaVista uses the more formal AND NOT operator.
They work the same way; you use AND NOT to exclude pages that contain
the specified word or phrase. So if you want to search for pages about
microwaves that aren’t about microwave ovens, enter microwave AND NOT
oven.
NEAR
You may not be familiar with this operator; not many search engines recognize
it. The NEAR operator is used to find pages that contain both specified words or
phrases—as long as the words are within 10 words of each other. This operator
helps to narrow your search to exact phrases (without formally doing so), as the
nearness of the two words on a page are likely to be occurrences of the phrase.
So if you want to search for microwave ovens, you could enter microwave
NEAR oven.