Infoseek has developed a simple query syntax which gives you the pinpoint search power of Boolean logic, without having to remember complex queries. The table below shows the Infoseek operators that correspond to Boolean operators:

Infoseek
operator		 Boolean
equivalent
default operator:
you need not use any
special symbols		 OR
+ AND
- NOT
phrase operator:
enclose the phrase with
double quotation marks		 ADJ

Boolean queries use the logical operators AND, OR, NOT and ADJ (adjacent). Suppose you wanted to find plain paper color laser printers made by companies other than HP. This query can be specified in Boolean logic as:

(laser ADJ printer) AND (color OR (plain ADJ paper)) AND NOT (HP OR Hewlett-Packard)

Using Infoseek operators, the complex query above may be typed into the search box as:
+"laser printer" color "plain paper" -HP, -Hewlett-Packard
This query specifies that: Statistical Weighting and Infoseek Searches
A traditional Boolean search returns an unsorted list of all items that match the search condition. Infoseek goes considerably beyond this by using advanced statistical search technology to return the results sorted with the "best" matches listed at the top. Unlike plain Boolean searches, Infoseek automatically weights your query terms based on their statistical uniqueness. Common terms, such as "shall," get a much lower weighting than less frequently occurring terms, such as the phrase "golf courses."

Infoseek's advanced statistical weighting allows you to just type in relevant words and phrases, and the system will provide the answer to your query in the top few documents! Since there are cases in which it is convenient to narrow a query using Boolean operators, Infoseek allows you to use the + and - Boolean operators. With Infoseek, you get the accurate ranking of statistical searching combined with the information filtering of Boolean searching.