Search Tips
Basic Searching
While it is true that you can simply drill in through categories and subcategories of products in our online catalog to find items, our site provides you with powerful search engines to make this process a little quicker -- one for the Store and another to search paper specifically!
Store Search
At the top of the commerce pages (the Store page, the Home Page, the Services page, etc.) in the top right hand corner is a Search field. Enter your keywords and hit the GO button.
If search results are returned, you can:
- Click on the item description to learn more.
- Click the ADD TO ORDER button to purchase the item.
- Refine your search (search within your search results) to weed out irrelevant results.
How to Choose Keywords for Searches
Choose keywords that are specific to the item you are searching for, i.e., if you want contact film, search the phrase "contact film", not just "film". The keyword "film" will return too many results for other types of film you are not interested in.
How to Narrow or Expand Your Initial Search
Our search functionality is what is known as a BOOLEAN SEARCH. This means that it will look for matches -- or "hits" -- within our site for the keywords you enter in the Search field.
A Boolean search also allows you to further control your search results through use of the words OR and AND in conjunction with your keywords.
OR = An "OR" search will retrieve records in which AT LEAST ONE of the search terms is present For example, if you enter "print or paper" in the search box, the search will return items that relate to either print, paper, or both!
***The more items you combine in a search with OR logic the more records you will retrieve.***
AND = An "AND" search will retrieve records in which BOTH of the search terms are present For example, if you enter "print and paper" in the search box, the search will return items that relate to both print and paper -- not items that relate to merely one or the other.
***The more items you combine in a search with AND logic the fewer records you will retrieve.***
Spelling is Key
When you enter keywords, be sure to spell them correctly! If you do not, you make it nearly impossible for the system to find what you are looking for.
Case is Not Important
The case of your keywords will not affect your search. For example, a search for "Film" will yield the same results as "film".
Searching Within a Search
If you run your initial search and find that you need more specific results, there are several ways to narrow your search and "search within a search".
- Enter a new keyword in the Refine Your Search field and click the radio button next to the "Keyword" option below the field. Then click the GO button to the right of the field.
- Enter a manufacturer's part number in the Refine Your Search field and click the radio button next to the "PartNumber" option below the field. Then click the GO button to the right of the field.
- Choose a manufacturer's name from the drop down list in the Select Manufacturer field.
Scroll to the bottom of the search results and click on one of the associated categories provided to view only the results in that category
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