Searching on FEER is easy. Simply type one or more search terms (the word(s) or phrase(s) that best describe the information you want to find) into the search box and hit the 'Search' button.

In response, FEER will produce a results page consisting of a list of article pages related to your search terms, with the most recent articles first, then the next, and so on. You can choose to order the results either by date (default) or by relevancy, using the sort menu at the top of the results page.

Here are some basic tips to help you maximize the effectiveness of your search:

• Choosing search terms

Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need.

Start with the obvious – if you're looking for general information on Tibet, try Tibet.

But it's often advisable to use multiple search terms; if you're searching for articles on Tibetan Monks, you’ll do better with Tibet Monk than with either Tibet or Monk by themselves. And Tibetan Monk Riots may produce even better (or, depending on your perspective, worse) results.

You might also ask yourself if your search terms are sufficiently specific. It’s better to search for 2008 Beijing Olympics rather than Sports in Asia. Choose the terms carefully. Will FEER articles use terms such as Economic impact of the Beijing Olympics, or August in 2008 is super pricey?

• Capitalization

FEER searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for chee soon juan, Chee Soon Juan, and cHeE SoOn jUAn  will all return the same results.

• Relevancy

By default, FEER only returns pages that include one or more of your search terms. Articles that contain more of the search terms will have a higher relevancy score.

• Automatic exclusion of common words

Apart from when common words are included in  quotation marks, FEER ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results.

It is not required to include "and" between terms. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign). For example, here’s how you’d find pages that contain both the words China AND Porcelain:

+China +Porcelain

Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.

• Phrase searches

Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase. In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms.

Phrase searches are particularly effective if you're searching for proper names ("Hu Jintao"), lyrics ("the long and winding road"), or other famous phrases ("See the truth, and you will see me ").

• Negative terms

If your search term has more than one meaning (china, for example, could refer to the country or porcelain) you can focus your search by putting a minus sign ("-") in front of words related to the meaning you want to avoid.

For example, here's how you'd find pages about china, porcelain, but not about  China, the country:

China –country

Note: when you include a negative term in your search, be sure to include a space before the minus sign.

Can't Find What You Want?
* If you're having difficulty with the search, please send an e-mail to webmaster@feer.com.