1. Enter your search terms.
You can use the Boolean operators "and" and "or" to refine your search, and separate your terms with parentheses. For example: Clinton and (defense or military). You can also search for specific sources, dates and sections by typing that information: Associated Press and July 10 and business. It's often best to try several searches, then evaluate the results, before retrieving the full text of articles (for which there is a charge).

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Articles are normally listed in reverse chronological order, or latest first. You can also choose to list articles in chronological order, or oldest first. The archives software also offers two types of relevance ranking. Frequency ranking list articles in order of the number of search words they contain. Relevance ranking starts with frequency, then uses a dictionary to weight search words. Less common words are ranked higher.

3. Decide how many results you would like.
The archive software returns the first 25 articles in reverse chronological order (from newest to oldest). However, you can specify more articles -- 50, 100 or 200 -- using the dialogue box.

4. Select a year to search, or search the entire archive.
You may want to find articles from one specific year, or search the entire archive. For examples on how you might find specific stories, see our FAQ.

5. If you are having trouble accessing articles ...
If you haven't set up an account, use our secure form to get started. If you have already set up an account, but are having trouble using your correct username and password to retrieve articles, you can call (800) 896-5587 for assistance. Please note, however, that operators there cannot help you find articles within the archive or answer questions about stories that ran in The Columbian.

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