When search terms are separated by spaces, the spaces are treated as AND. For example, if you search for two words separated by a space (alternative energy), the search will return only items that include both words. This is the same as searching for alternative AND energy. To search for the two words together (a phrase search), put the search words in quotes ("alternative energy"). Only items with those two words in sequence will be returned.

To search for items that include either of the words, search for alternative OR energy.

To search for items that include one word but not the other, search for alternative NOT energy.

Here's how to optimize searches on the MCT Web sites:

Use the pop-up menu at the top of any page to choose the type of search (All Visuals, Photos, Graphics, News Service etc.), then enter your keyword(s) in the search field. If you don't choose, All Visuals is the default.

To search for exact phrases or full names, use quotes around the words. If you search for "Hillary Clinton" using quote marks, your search results will be limited to items that have both words together. If you omit the quotes, the search is treated as Hillary AND Clinton; only items with both words would be found, but the words would not necessarily appear consecutively.

To narrow a slug search, use quotes around the complete slug. Searching for "BC-SEXEDUCATION:TB" will find only stories with that exact slug. If you search for the root part of a slug, such as "BC-SEXEDUCATION", it will find variations such as BC-SEXEDUCATION-CORRECTION:TB or BC-SEXEDUCATION-1ST-LEDE:WA. This is especially useful for finding sidebars that go with a main story.

To further refine your search, you can use a combination of AND, OR, and NOT with your keywords. An example: "BC-BRINKLEY-COLUMN:MCT" returns dozens of columns, but "BC-BRINKLEY-COLUMN:MCT" AND carnage returns 7. However, "BC-BRINKLEY-COLUMN:MCT" AND carnage AND gaggle returns the exact column searched for. You can also use NOT to eliminate other content. "BC-BRINKLEY-COLUMN:MCT" NOT carnage NOT gaggle would have eliminated that particular column from your search. Note that both AND and NOT and the term that follows are NOT in quotes.

It's now OK to use "smart" or "curly" quotes in searches, so you can copy search terms from a story and paste them into the search box. "Straight" quotes, the ones found next to the RETURN or ENTER key on a keyboard, also work.

You can also group search terms intended for an OR search by using parentheses to better define the search parameters. Here are two examples:

(north OR south) AND korea* NOT g20
(DVD OR Blu-ray OR HDDVD) AND sales

The asterisk character can be used as a wildcard to search for variations of search term that end with different suffixes: e.g. Alaska* would return Alaska's or Alaskan.

How to Match Stories and Art

On News Service budgets, the budget lines for stories that have art include hyperlinks to that art (just click them).

News Service stories include art information at the top (a list of the kinds of art available) and at the bottom (a list of filenames or keywords to search for). Enter these filenames or keywords in the search box at the top of any MCT Direct page. Then use the pop-up menu to choose the type of search (All Visuals, Photos, Graphics, etc.), and click the Search button.

Art captions and art search results often include the slug of matching MCT stories (for example, MCT US NEWS STORY SLUGGED: ANTISMOKING). Enter this slug (in this case, ANTISMOKING) in the search box at the top of any MCT Direct page. Then use the pop-up menu to choose the type of search (News Service, etc.), and click the Search button.

Some things to remember:

Not all stories have art, and not all art is linked to stories.

Stories are often posted before art and vice versa, and budget lines are often posted before either stories or art. If your search turns up empty, try again later in the day.

If you have subscribed to some MCT services but not others, some stories and/or art may require an a la carte purchase.

Some stories and/or art may be unavailable in your market because of territorial restrictions.