First, choose what category of information you wish to search for in the Find select box.
Next, add the criteria for your search. The following tables explain the meanings of the various drop-down select boxes used to form search criteria:
A criteria line is of the form:
<Boolean Operator> <Search Field> <Search Method> <Search Text>
where the Boolean Operator is only used when specifying more than one criterion.
Search Fields
| Field Name | Description | Supported Search Methods |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Performs a search based on a Full Name (e.g., Todd Pickett or Robert Johnson). | All |
| Preferred Name | Performs a search based on a Preferred Name or "Nickname". If a person's name is Robert Johnson, for example, they may prefer to go by Bob Johnson. If Michigan Tech knows about this preferred name, then you will be able to find them as Bob. | All |
| First Name | Performs a search based on First Name only (e.g., Todd). | All |
| Last Name | Performs a search based on Last Name only (e.g., Pickett). | All |
| Performs a search based on Email Address (e.g., tpickett@mtu.edu). | All, except sounds like | |
| Home Town | Performs a search based on a person's Home Town, if available (e.g., Somecity, SomeState). | All, except sounds like |
| Telephone Number | Performs a search based on a Telephone Number. | All, except sounds like |
| Userid | Performs a search based on a Userid. | is is not |
Search Methods
| Method Name | Description |
|---|---|
| contains | Results for the search field must contain the specified search text. |
| is | Results for the search field must match exactly the specified search text. |
| is not | Results for the search field must not match exactly the specified search text. |
| starts with | Results for the search field must begin with the specified search text. |
| ends with | Results for the search field must end with the specified search text. |
| sounds like | Results for the search field must "sound like" the specified search text. For example, "Tim" may sound like "Tom" or "Tammy". This is a good option when you don't know how to spell a name. |
Examples
| Search Question | Criteria Lines for Search | Notes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is the phone number of Todd User and Jill User? |
| It may be confusing to see that the or operator was used here instead of and. However, thinking about it logically, if and was used we would be saying, I would like information about someone whose Full Name is Todd User and whose Full Name is Jill User. Obviously, a person doesn't have two (2) different names so we must really want to say, I would like information about someone whose Full Name is Todd User or whose Full Name is Jill User. | ||||||||
| I would like information about someone who I know has a first name that starts with Ja and whose last name has ou in it. |
| This may return many results, from which you will have to find the person you are looking for as this will probably find some Jack's, Jamie's, Jane's, etc., but only if their last name has an ou in it (Plouse, Youth, Ouseman, etc.). |
Search Results Page
This page will contain a list of the entries that match your search criteria. If an email address is found, it will be displayed in such way that clicking on it will bring up an email message composition window from which you can send an email message (provided your client is set up to do this).
If something other than an email address is found and appears to be a link, clicking on it will, most likely, bring up additional information about that entry.