Searching Tips and Tricks

Or, how to get the most out of your search

• Make sure you search for exactly what you are looking for. Use precise words, nicknames and proper nouns. Don't search for "dogs" when you really mean "boston terriers" and don't search for "boston terriers" when you really mean "Lord Snowden Prince Fluffernose" the Boston Terrier who just won the "Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show". If you can't remember his name (how could you forget?), search with "westminster kennel club" "boston terrier" and you'll probably find him.
• Remember the Nyms -- Acronym and Synonym. There is no "one right keyword". Hand a dozen people the same object and you'll get several different words or phrases to describe it. Think of as many ways to say and describe the same thing as you can and don't forget to include any "alphabet soup" terms: ADHD will appear much more often than Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
• Make search engines "fill in the blanks ______". A technique that works well for factual information is to turn a question into a part of a statement that might appear in a web page on the subject. Web pages tend to be written in a direct style; so, a phrase echoing that style can sometimes find the answer to a question. For example:

  "What is the smallest insect?" Can be converted to "smallest insect"
  "Who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989?" can be changed to "received Nobel peace prize 1989"

• Scan lists of results for: additional unique terminology, proper nouns or significant dates to use in your search. Also look for any terms that you need to try and eliminate to get rid of "junk results" that appear to frequently.
• Use search engine math. Plus (+) signs and minus (-) signs tell search engines that particular terms either must be or must not be in the results. (Be very careful when choosing to remove a term from search results because it is easy to take out results you might want.)
• Word order matters. Running a search on the same words arranged in a different order will produce different results. Put phrases in quotation marks.
• Used the advanced search options to make your search more precise. Every search engine offers a range of advanced searching tools. For whatever searching tool you are using, look through the options and try them out.
• Find out what others think of a particular web site. A nifty trick for finding out the reputation of a particular web site is to use a link tracker. Most search engines offer this feature as part of their Advanced Search functions. It will usually be labelled "Links" search. For example, go to Google's Advanced Search Page, put in the web address of the site you're interested in into the Page-Specific Search "Links" box and you can find out who's linking to a particular site.

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©Ruth B. Lindemann, 2004 Danville Area Community College
8/10/04