USAID Development Experience System (DEC) Help

Help with Searching

This website contains three powerful ways to search the DEC (click to view the help page for that search):

1. The Advanced Search is a way to execute more precise searches. Here you can individually search 11 different fields, in any combination.
2. The Thesaurus Search uses the power of the USAID Thesaurus to search the DEC. DEC staff use the controlled vocabulary of the Thesaurus to index documents in the DEC, and the Thesaurus search lets you identify individual thesaurus terms and retrieve records indexed with that term.
3. The PDF Full Text Search is our new resource that utilizes powerful Google technology to index our PDF collection. You are now able to search the text of all of the downloadable PDFs we have in our collection, which numbers at around 100,000. For all features of this new resources, take a look at the Google Search Tips.

Search Results and Obtaining Documents

DEC search results are displayed in a summary format that by default lists matches by publication date, most recent first. See the results help page for more on the features of the results page.

Most documents added in the last five years are available electronically and can be downloaded for free as PDF files immediately. You'll need a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat reader software to view PDF files on your computer (see link at right).

Documents are no longer available for ordering online as we are converting our entire collection to PDF. Learn more about when the document(s) you are looking for may be available.

Still can't find the document you're looking for?

Contact the DEC directly at (202) 712-0579 or e-mail ksc@usaid.gov for assistance with searching.

Contact the DEC webmaster to report technical errors or to make a feature request at decwebmaster@usaid.gov.