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Searching Bid Opportunities
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All browsers are welcome at FGCON.com, but please
note that secure online browsing is only possible with Netscape
Navigator 4.06 or Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Cookies must
be enabled in your browser's preferences. To take advantage
of all our site features, we recommend that you have JavaScript
enabled as well.
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To provide better search result, First Government Contract offers three
search modes; Basic Search, Advanced Search and My Search.
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- Basic Search: Basic Search returns all the bids
that match the keyword or phrase that you put into the search
box. This is the most general form of search and the search
results are returned regardless of category and date range.
Use Basic Search when you need many search results instantly.
- Advanced Search: Advanced Search allows you to
narrow down the search results by setting up various search
options such as category, date range, target business area,
data type, etc. Use Advanced Search when you need accurate
and narrowed-down search results.
- My Search: My Search has pre-defined search options
that are set up based upon your personal preference. In
other words, My Search has the search options of your choice
such as keyword, category and target business area already
integrated into the search system. This allows you to quickly
try different keyword with the same search option so that
you can find the bid leads that match the general scope
of your business but has the different keyword. Use My Search
when you need to try different keywords or phrases without
changing any search condition.
* Note: My Search is your default search
mode and when you log in, My Search will appear as your
default search mode.
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Enter keywords or phrases into the 'Search' box that best
describe your products or services, and then click the 'Go'
or 'Search' button. First Government Contract's search engine is designed
to be as general or specific as you need it to be.
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- General Search: General search can be performed
by using a general keyword or phrase rather than a specific
and narrowed down keyword or phrase. For example, if you're
not exactly sure what kind of computer hardware related
bid leads are available and would like to see and browse
all the related bid leads, a search for 'computer hardware'
will bring up all the bid leads that have the both words
- "computer" and "hardware."
- Specific Search: Specific search can be performed
by using a specific and keyword or phrase rather than a
general keyword or phrase. For example, if you are interested
in the only bid leads that is related to IBM server computer
but not in any other computer hardware, simply type in the
words 'IBM server computer.' The search engine will return
only bid leads that are related to IBM server computer.
- Choosing the Right Search Type: It can be tricky
to decide whether you should try general search or specific
search. Here are the general tips on choosing the right
search option:
General search usually gives you more search results than
specific search. So, if you think you are not getting enough
number of bid leads, trying general search will help. Choose
a more general keyword that has broader meaning, for example,
'computer' rather than 'personal computer' or 'desktop PC.'
This will usually return more search results. Or you could
try the other way. For example, if you are getting too many
bid leads when you use a keyword 'computer', you can narrow
down your search results by using a keyword that has more
specific meaning such as 'personal computer' or 'desktop
PC.'
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Search options help you specify or narrow down your search
results by allowing you to choose your choice of Source, State/Region,
Date Range, Category, etc.
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- Source: First Government Contract provides bid leads from
four main sources: US federal government agencies, US state
& local government agencies, DLA (Defense Logistics
Agency) and Canadian government agencies. Any combination
of selection is possible except that DLA cannot be selected
with any of the other three. Source selection is available
in Basic Search, Advanced Search and My Search.
- State/Region: When you select state/region, only
matching bid leads from the selected state/region will be
shown. The default is set to all states/regions, and you
can either use the scroll box (in Basic Search mode) or
use the selection box (in Advanced Search mode) to select
the state/region of your choice. When in My Search mode,
your pre-selected states/regions will be used as default.
- Category: Category system is used to classify the
bids in terms of industry type, product type and service
type. You can select the specific category so that only
matching bid leads from the selected category appear as
search results. Basic Search mode does not provide category
system as a search option. However, both Advanced Search
and My Search have category system as a search option. Also,
please remember that when in My Search, your pre-selected
category will be used as default.
- Date Range: You can set the date range you would
like to search bid leads from using date range search option.
Default is set to 'All Active Bid Leads' that will return
search results from all the bid leads that are still open
for bidding. You can use the scroll box to select 'within
48 hours', 'within a week', 'within 1 month', 'within 3
month', 'within 6 month' or 'within 1 year.' Date range
filtering option is available in Advanced Search and My
Search.
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Boolean searching is a specialized search technique which
relies on a system of logic developed by mathematician George
Boole (1815-64). Using Boolean expressions, you can limit your
results to very specific information. Here are some examples
of Boolean searches :
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- When you type multiple words in the search box, First Government Contract
looks for bid leads that contain all of the words.
• Example : notebook computer
This search will return bid leads which contain both the
word "notebook" and the word "computer"
anywhere in the text.
- Type in "-" (minus) in front of a word to
search for bid leads that do not contain the specific word.
• Example: notebook -desktop
This search will return bid leads which contain the word
"notebook" but do not contain the word "desktop"
anywhere in the text.
- To search for an exact phrase, put it in quotes (")
and (").
• Example: "notebook computer"
This search will return bid leads which contain the phrase
"notebook computer" anywhere in the text.
- More complicated Boolean searches can be done by combining
several Boolean search expressions together.
• Example: notebook "handheld
device"
This search will return bids which contain the word "notebook"
and the phrase "handheld device"
anywhere in the text.
- Plural Forms and Capitalization
Plural form does not make difference when using First Government Contract
search meaning that both "test" and "tests"
will return the same search results. Capitalization does
not make difference, either. For example, both "TEST"
and "test" will return the same search results.
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Here are some helpful tips about using First Government Contract search.
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- Enter words that you think will appear on the bid leads
you want. First Government Contract indexes almost every word on
each bid leads.
- Be as specific as you can.
Example: construction equipment instead of just construction
- Improve your searches by using more words. As a general
rule, the more words you use, the more accurate your search
results will be.
Example: construction equipment is more specific than construction
while road construction equipment is more specific than
construction equipment
- Try to avoid words that have too broad meanings or words
that are used a lot. For example, the word "website"
appears almost in every bid available in First Government Contract.
So, if you are looking for bids related to website design,
try to avoid "website" as your keyword. A phrase
search of "website design" would return more accurate
search results. Or you can narrow down the search results
by adding more keywords such as "design."
Example: Here's the list of words that are recommended not
to be used alone.
web, website, envelope, bid, consulting, information, service,
RFQ, RFP, proposal, quote, state, equipment, building, material,
office, email, address, contract, item, phone, telephone,
fax, contact, system, award, agency, notice,
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