SEARCH HELP
Quick Tips
Narrowing Your Search
Finding Information
Search Pointers
About Each Search Choice
QUICK TIPS
► Use KEYWORD to enter part of a name or a descriptive word
Examples: Mountain or Growmark; energy or child
► Enter all or part of city name in CITY
Example: To find Guelph enter Guelph, Gue or G
► Enter the complete postal code in POSTAL CODE
Examples: N1G 2X6 or m2c 4x9 (Note the space!)
By default, the e-directory searches within a 5 kilometre radius of the postal code you specify.
► Narrow your search to a specific part of the province in REGION
Example: Southwestern > Huron County
► Select from categories and sub-categories in CATEGORY
Example: Financial Services > Credit Union
► Select a letter or number from the ALPHABET BAR
Examples: 1 or Y or q
► If your search produces a substantial amount of listings, the information will be presented over a number of e-directory pages. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of each page to see the link to the NEXT PAGE.
NARROWING YOUR SEARCH
► Select one or more options from the choices presented.
Example: KEYWORD = energy; and REGION = eastern.
► Refine your search from the choices presented.
Example: Search for KEYWORD = school
Then search those listings for REGION = Toronto
Then search for CATEGORY = nursery school.
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FINDING INFORMATION
► There are various ways to find the same information.
Example: To find “Food Family Credit Union” you could …
Search for CATEGORY = Financial Services, SUB-CATEGORY = Credit Union, KEYWORD = food.
Search for KEYWORD = “Food Family” [in quotes].
Search for CITY = Toronto, then KEYWORD = food.
Choose F from the ALPHABET LIST.
SEARCH POINTERS
Typing
► Spelling counts! Searching for “St. Catherines” is not the same as searching for “St. Catharines”.
► Remember that zero (0) and the letter o; the letter l and the number 1 are not the same.
► Type your words in UPPER, lower or mIxED case. The search results will always be the same no matter what case you type them in.
► A search for credit union displays ALL entries that contain the word credit or the word union.
► A search for child day displays ALL entries that contain the word child or the word day.
► To find only credit unions, enter the phrase in “quotes” e.g. “credit union”.
Word Forms
► Search for the shortest form of the word.
Examples: co-op also finds co-operative and co-operation; child also finds childcare and children.
Examples: If you search for childcare you WILL NOT find child or children; if you search for house you WILL NOT find housing. However, if you search for hous, you will find house, housing and any other words containing ‘hous’.
► Various forms and spellings of words may appear in names or descriptions.
Examples: coop is different than co-op; daycare is different than day care; centre is different than center; and neighbour is different than neighbor.
Consider Alternatives
► Do you need the corporate office? In most cases, the primary or head office is indicated by CORPORATE next to the organization’s name. Satellite, branch or agency offices are generally indicated. Branch naming/numbering may not reflect the actual method used by that particular organization.
► To search for the co-operatives in your area without using the CITY search box, enter your POSTAL CODE (with one space in the middle) and increase the search radius from the default of 5km to a radius of 10, 25, 50 or even 100 kilometres
► Think about the types of answers you want and consider alternative words for finding what you seek.
Examples: If you search for “coffee” and nothing comes up, search for fair or “fair trade”. If you search for “child care”, also search for “day care”. If you search for Superior, also search for “Thunder Bay”. If you search for coop, also search for co-op.
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ABOUT EACH SEARCH CHOICE
KEYWORD
KEYWORD searches all text in each organization’s name and description areas. It does not search the category or postal code areas.
► Enter full or partial words (co-op also finds co-operative); search for phrases by putting the words in “quotes” (“fair trade”).
CATEGORY
CATEGORY is organized into primary and secondary choices. Example: Financial Services > Caisse Populaire. Select from the choices provided.
► CATEGORY is sometimes open to interpretation. It is recommended that you also search by other search terms to ensure that you are finding all co-ops that fit your criteria.
REGION
REGION separates the province into key geographic locations,regions and counties.
► Some co-ops do not have an Ontario address, though they carry on business in the province. Those co-operatives cannot be located using REGION.
CITY
CITY locates all organizations in the e-directory and their branches or satellite offices by municipality (village, town, city etc). You may enter the entire city name, the first letter or the first few letters of the city.
► Searching by city is not always obvious. Consider that ‘The Ottawa Valley Food Co-operative’ is located in Eganville [not Ottawa] and that many agency offices of ‘The Co-operators’ are located in Etobicoke, not Toronto, for example.
POSTAL CODE
POSTAL CODE searching is useful if you know the exact postal code of the location you are seeking.
► Enter 6 characters with one space. Upper or lower case does not matter. You cannot currently search by fewer than 6 characters. By default the e-directory also displays organizations within 5 km of the code you specify. That radius can be changed from 5 to 10, 25, 50 or 100 kilometres.
ALPHABET BAR
ALPHABET BAR searches the first letter (or number) of the organization’s name. This is useful if you know the name of the organization you are seeking.
► Many organizations’ names begin with ‘The’. For example, to search for The Beach School, The Co-operators or The CUMIS Group, you must select the letter T. In these cases, searching for B or C will not yield the results you expect.
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