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Folks Most Search Engine command charts (such as the one in Online 23/3 and others I have found on the Internet) indicate that the AltaVista default is OR. (Though AV itself does not say what the default is). However if you search, for example, for monetary union on the basic search screen the result is the same (11965 today) as for the search "monetary union" which is the phrase search. The result for a real OR search, obtained by using OR (which has to be in upper case) on the advanced search screen is 4,223,763. Curioser still, if you type in monetary union on the advanced search screen (where the default is again meant to be OR) then the answer is 480580. And that is just the OR. The basic search uses + to ensure a word is present (equivalent conceptually to AND). However a search for +monetary +union yields 85872 whereas searching in advanced mode for monetary AND union gives 919290 quite a difference! At least "monetary union" gives the same result in both modes. What is one to think? Worse still what is one to tell the students? Terry Terry Hanson Sub-Librarian: Information Services University of Portsmouth Library Cambridge Rd. Portsmouth PO1 2ST Tel: 01705 843240 Fax: 01705 843233 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%