Except for apostrophes, you do not need to use any punctuation to perform a search of an exact title or author.
Example : Watt's manual will search for the phrase "watt s manual"
Use / to broaden your search - as an OR
Example : discrimination / racism will search for either discrimination OR racism
Use a & to narrow your search - as an AND
Example : 2000 & firearms will search for both keyword terms
Use an * to truncate your search term
Example : Abus* will find abuse, abused, abusing, or abusive