Searching knowledge bases

You can often find solutions to problems by searching IBM knowledge bases. You can optimize your results by using available resources, support tools, and search methods.

About this task

You can find useful information by searching the information center for IBM® Cognos® for Microsoft Office, but sometimes you need to look beyond the information center to answer your questions or resolve problems.

Procedure

To search knowledge bases for information that you need, use one or more of the following approaches:

  • Find the content that you need by using the IBM Support Portal

    The IBM Support Portal is a unified, centralized view of all technical support tools and information for all IBM systems, software, and services. The IBM Support Portal lets you access the IBM electronic support portfolio from one place. You can tailor the pages to focus on the information and resources that you need for problem prevention and faster problem resolution.

  • Search for content about IBM Cognos for Microsoft Office at: IBM Cognos forums and communities
  • Search for content by using the IBM masthead search.
    You can use the IBM masthead search by typing your search string into the Search field at the top of any ibm.com® page.
  • Search for content by using any external search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
    If you use an external search engine, your results are more likely to include information that is outside the ibm.com domain. However, sometimes you can find useful problem-solving information about IBM products in newsgroups, forums, and blogs that are not on ibm.com.
    Tip: Include IBM and the name of the product in your search if you are looking for information about an IBM product.