If a search results in too many hits, it may be useful to limit the query. This can be achieved in several ways.

Filter by category

After you entered a search term, you will see tabs with the names of categories above the search results. Examples of categories are standards and norms, professional associations and supervisory authorities. You can filter the search results by clicking on one of the tabs. To return to all results, simply click on the first tab (All).

Searching for more terms

More terms in a search will limt the number of results. Choose terms which are in line with each other, like synonyms or specific instances of general concepts. E.g.:

contingency fire

It is not necessary to use special characters such as the ampersand (&) or the plus sign (+).

Placing terms in the right context

By using more search terms, you can also place a word in the right context. The word controller for example, is used to describe an employee, but it also refers to a computer device. Compare the results of the following searches:

controller accounting

and

controller device

Moreover, the same word can exist in more languages, like brand in English (in the sense of a branded article or product), German and Dutch (meaning fire). To search only for the word in English, add a synonym or siminar term:

brand marketing

It is also possble to add the type of document you are looking for, such as an article, a handbook or standard. Put the case that you are looking for a handbook about information security:

handbook information security

Exclude search terms

With the minus sign you can exclude a term from the results. This method is useful if a word has different meanings and you are only interested in a particular context. Example: you would like to know more about the tasks a controller performs in an organisation, but you find primarily information about controllers as computer devices. In this case, use the following search:

task controller -device

Searching for phrases

With quotation marks you can search for complete sentences or phrases. This is useful when you precisely know what you are looking for. Suppose that you attended an interesting presentation and you would like to have a digital version of the slides. Query:

"spreadsheet auditing for free"

This method allows to search for citations too. Terms wich consist of two words, such as management control, do not have to be comprised by quotation marks.

Searching by location

If you would like to know what a particular organisation or institution has published about a topic, you can use the site-command. For example, you are looking for publications of the Bank of England about Mifid:

mifid site:bankofengland.co.uk

The site-command is also suited for finding out how a term is interpreted in a certain country. In order to do this, type after site: the code for the respective country, as shown in the table mentioned below:

Query:

integrity site:.ie

Searching by filetype

With the command filetype you can filter the search results by the type of file which contains the information you are looking for. In the table below some well-known filetypes are shown.

Query:

independence filetype:pdf