FAQ:  Queries

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What is a Keyword Query and how is it used?
A Keyword Query is the combination of words and rules Nexcerpt uses to find the material you want. Nexcerpt's Query screen provides the fields and structure for you to fill in easily. You provide words you want (or don't want) to see, and their relationships. Nexcerpt scans online sources for those words and relationships, then delivers the most relevant excerpts for your review in your Draft.

A Query contains search terms ("Keywords") about which you want information, along with some simple Boolean operators (such as AND, OR, and NOT) that you may use to refine the results. A very simple Query with common Keywords (e.g., "earnings") may return a huge, undifferentiated Nexcerpt Draft. A Query with more Keywords, or more-specific Keywords and relationships (e.g., Pharmacia OR "The Upjohn Company" AND earnings BUT NOT SEC), would return a shorter Draft of very specific, useful excerpts.

How many Keyword Queries can my account contain?
You may use unlimited Keywords, in up to ten different Queries at once, each as elaborate as you wish. You can build Queries using Nexcerpt's Easy mode, to maintain logical structures automatically, or Expert mode, to expand on Keywords and relationships more freely.

Can I change my Keyword Queries myself?
Yes. You may refine Queries as often as you wish, adding or deleting Keywords and operators to make them more effective for you. You also may deactivate Queries or replace them at will, but please allow new Queries to run a full day before expecting a complete set of results.

How often do my Keyword Queries search and produce new results?
Nexcerpt runs your Queries each day. It then delivers the excerpts to your Draft, so they will be ready at the time you specified. Nexcerpt may not find excerpts every day, because on any given day there may be no material relevant to your Queries. However, if you wish, the service will e-mail you each day, even to indicate that no excerpts were found. (You can disable that reminder using the Editor Interface.)