You can find pest management information on WSPRS in two basic ways:

• Using the Navigation Bar (blue list at left)
• Using the Search WSPRS search engine (provided on the home page as well as in a crimson block on the right of several of the secondary pages). Using the search engine will yield the best results if done properly. We highly recommend users read the comments regarding Using the Search Engine, below.

If you are seeking comprehensive pest management information on a specific crop, be sure to check the Crop Profiles/PMSPs page. Not all crops are covered, but these crop-specific documents provide a basic outline of the crop protection strategies currently being employed for many Washington State crops. Profiles are continually updated and added, making this page and important and dynamic resource.

Using the Navigation Bar
Pest management is a complex subject. This site provides links to thousands of individual Web pages addressing tens of thousands of crop-pest-control combinations. The Navigation Bar offers links to several broad topic areas, including the major pest categories (insects, weeds, diseases) and the major control approaches (IPM, biocontrol, organic, pesticide).

When you "click" on an item in the Navigation Bar, you will be taken to a secondary page which, in most cases, lists only a selection of major links (i.e., home pages) persuant to that topic. As we are the Washington State Pest Management Resource Service, links for Washington-specific resources appear first, followed by pertinent national links or links to other state resources. If you aren't finding the information you seek, we suggest you try the search engine.

Using the Search Engine
WSPRS is a search-driven Web site. The WSPRS search engine is based on the Google search engine and uses its technology. The following tips will help ensure the best results.

• Be specific. "Purple loosestrife" will yield fewer and much more targeted results than "weed." On the other hand, if you're not sure about the spelling of "anthracnose," you might want to stick with "disease," but modify it with "lettuce," "blight," and/or other words you would expect to appear on your page of interest.
• Narrowing the search. Besides adding more specific words to your search field, you can delete words that don't apply. Since Washington State University is also involved in many things besides pest management, search results might include unrelated items. For example, your search for "carrot" might include carrot cake recipes from 4-H or student dining hall menus that include carrots! To delete superfluous results, put a "minus sign" (hyphen) immediately in front of a word you would expect to find on pages NOT related to your desired results. For example, "carrot -cake" would give you all pages containing the word carrot that did not also include the word "cake."
• Match must be exact.The WSPRS search engine does not use "stemming" or support "wildcard" searches; it searches for exactly the words that you enter in the search box. Searching for "lady" or "lady*" will not yield "ladybird." If in doubt, try all forms: "potato" and "potatoes," for instance.
• "AND" is implied. Put in as many words as you like (up to 255 characters) and WSPRS' search engine will return results that contain all the words you choose. The words do not necessarily have to appear in order or near each other in the document. If you want to search for an intact phrase (e.g., "codling moth in apple"), enclose the phrase in quotation marks within the search field.