code: def search(self,
                  q,
                  start=1,
                  num=10,
                  sortField="username",
                  sortOrder="asc"):
          params = {
              "f" : "json",
              "q" : q,
              "start" : start,
              "num" : num,
              "sortField" : sortField,
              "sortOrder" : sortOrder
          }
          url = self._url
          return self._get(
              url = url,
              param_dict=params,
              securityHandler=self._securityHandler,
              proxy_url=self._proxy_url,
              proxy_port=self._proxy_port)