Public Commons
[home] [about]

Contact:

mail@publiccommons.ca

Subsites:

Website:

[home] [about] [policies] [help] [legal disclaimer]

Members:

[log in] [register]

[profiles] [forum]

You are using a pre-release version of publiccommons.ca. Feedback is welcome at mail@publiccommons.ca

This website developed with the generous assistance of the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Welcome to PublicCommons.ca

Keyword tips

Keyword search tips

Most of the time entering a keyword like "campfires" or "bake ovens" or "permits" will get you started just fine. But here are some simple operators you can experiment with to refine your search (think of these as a tiny query language).

Operator	Meaning	Example	Finds
+	AND operator; word must be included; use this most of the time	+apples +oranges	both "apples" and "oranges" must be found in the same document.
-	NOT operator; word must not be included	apples -oranges	"apples" must be found without the word "oranges".
*	wild card (must be appended to the end)	camp*	camp, camps, campfire, campfires, Campbell
<blank>	absence of an operator is interpreted as OR; any document with the word will be found	apples oranges	any document with either "apples" or "oranges" will be found
"<phrase>"	exact phrase; words enclosed in double quotes must be found exactly	"orange apples"	the phrase "orange apples" must be found
(<term>)	grouping; search terms in parentheses are evaluated separately	+bananas +(apples oranges)	find "bananas" with either "apples" or "oranges"

Note that keywords less than four characters long are ignored.

Keywords are searched in the Title, Caption, Location, Description, and Body of documents.

Keyword search does not look for the root of plurals. So "campfires" will not find "campfire", nor will "campfire" find "campfires". To find both use "campfire*".

Some (very commonly used) keywords are ignored altogether. These are called "stopwords". For a list see stopwords.

Search Documents

Find a Topic

Google

Documents

You can also browse documents.

Topics

You can also browse topics, or start with topic treetops.

Google

Note that google indexing of new material can be delayed by days or weeks from time of addition of the material to this website.

Browse

[log in], or [register]

Explore

Some starting points

Starting points

You can also browse documents.

Latest Documents

document Field Permit Fees Toronto Sports Council working session

15-May-2012 [1184]

Topics: [Permits]

document How do we relay the rules?

08-May-2012 [1164]

Once we have agreed upon what rules we want to be governed by, how do we convey them?.... How do we wish to be spoken to and to speak to one another in our public spaces?

Topics: [Laws and Regulations]

document Respectful, courteous rules

08-May-2012 [1165]

Topics: [Laws and Regulations]

document Analysis: Playgrounds without swings just aren’t playgrounds The National Post article May 4, 2012

08-May-2012 [1166]

Topics: [Playgrounds]

document The Rule of Law

08-May-2012 [1167]

"This excerpt, which discusses the "rule of law" is from "Law Is Cool" - a student-run, "work in progress" educational blog and podcast for law students. The site does not give legal advice; rather, its purpose is to provide "an open forum for ide

Topics: [Laws and Regulations]

document Speaking Notes - Committee April 2012

30-Apr-2012 [1158]

Topics: [Permits]

document 32. Chaper Thirty-two

27-Apr-2012 [1155]

Topics: [Elinor Ostrom] [Jutta Mason: Parks story] [Jutta's Park Conservancy chapters]

document Small-town development fight in Quebec ends in mayor’s arrest he Globa and Mail article - April 20, 2012

23-Apr-2012 [1152]

Topics: [Governance]

document Toronto District School Board and City of Toronto Agreement for City's Use of School Pools (2012-2017)

21-Apr-2012 [1148]