Read & Search PCV Success Stories

Note: If you would like to add your own success story, you must first log in.

If you want to view ALL PCV success stories, click this button: Get: Detail Summaries

Otherwise, if you want to search the database for just those stories that interest you, use the following form. For best results, see "Search Tips" below.

Search Tips:

• You do not have to fill in each field. The more fields you fill in, the narrower your search will be and the fewer stories will be returned – perhaps to the point of no stories at all. It is suggested that you start by filling in only one field. If too many stories are returned, then start adding additional search terms.
• To search for an exact phrase, say "benefit concert", type the phrase into the text field (without quotation marks), then select "Get Exact Phrase".
• To search for more than one word, type the series of words into the text field separated by commas. For example, "school, university" (without the quotation marks). Then choose whether to get records that include "any" of the words, or only records that include "all" the words.
• For the most inclusive results, do not enter plurals. For example, entering the term "school" will return all records that also include the term "schools" (and also "schooling" and all other words that have the root "school"). If you want to make sure you get all records related to ecology, for example, enter "ecolog" (without the quotes) as your search term. You will then get records that include "ecology," "ecological," "ecologist" and any other words that have "ecolog" as their root.
• To choose more than one "Subject" or "Oblast," hold down the Ctrl key and click on your choices using the mouse. If you select more than one, it will be an "OR" type search – in other words, your search will return stories involving "Arts and Crafts" OR "Civics and Democracy," not necessarily both.
• You may use the percent sign (%) as a "wildcard" character. Thus, a search for "wom%n" (without the quotes) will return all records that include "woman" or "women". You do not need to put the wildcard character at the beginning or end of a search term. That is done automatically by the search program.
• To find stories by a specific person, type, e.g., "Amy Daniels" (without the quotes) into the "Search PCV names" field and select "Get Exact Name". If you want all stories by anyone named "Michael," enter that name and select "Get Any Name". Stories where the PCV's first name or last name equals "Michael" will be returned.
• Searches are case-insensitive. Searching for "Anne Silver" will return the same results as "anne silver" or "ANNE SILVER".
• A word about searching by dates: Searches for "After" or "Before" a specified month and year WILL NOT include the stories from the month you entered. For example, asking for all stories "After Mar 2005" will retrieve all stories dated April 2005 and later. If you select "Between", however, the specified months WILL be included. Thus "Between Jan 2005 And Dec 2006" returns all stories from 2005 and 2006, including those from Jan 2005 and Dec 2006.
• If you are not satisfied with the results of your search, click on the "Revise Search Request" link on the search results page and you will return to this page with your original search search request displayed. Edit it and try again.
• If you enter search terms in more than one field, only stories that satisfy ALL your criteria will be returned. Specifying search terms for more than one field will greatly narrow the number of stories found, possibly to the point of no responsive stories at all.
• If you would like to see the terms you searched for highlighted for easy reference in the search output, select the "Highlight search terms" box. (NOTE: Sometimes the highlighting misses a term, and it will not highlight terms found using wildcard (%) searches – so don't expect 100% accuracy.)
• If you choose to have the stories found by your search displayed in summary format, you may not see your search term displayed if it was contained in "Full Story" or another field that is not shown in the summary. To get the full story, click on the detail icon.