Tip: It is a good idea to pick 3 to 5 search tools of different types and get to know how each works. Practice searching the same topic with different tools to discover those that work best for you.

Tip: To familiarize yourself with the way a particular search tool works, use your mouse to click on the Help, Search Tips or Hints link of the search tool. This will give you information on the most effective way to search using that specific tool.

To access a search engine, type its Web address into the Location Field box of your browser and hit the Enter/Return key on your keyboard. Once you are connected to the search engine, put your cursor in the blank Search Field box and type in keywords related to your topic of interest. Use your mouse to click on the Search or Go button next to the box, or hit Enter/Return on your keyboard. The search engine then scans its database and returns a list of websites that contain the words you used in your search. You can then use your mouse to click on one of these returned links and you will be connected to that website. Use the Back button located on the Button Bar at the top of your screen to return to the original list. You can then select another link to click on.

Follow the same procedure when using a metasearch engine.

When using directories point your cursor to a subject or topic area and click to view results. Many directories also contain an internal search feature that allows you to search for keywords within the directory itself.

SEARCH STRATEGIES

Many of the major search engines contain the full text of the files that they have stored in their databases. These search engines will retrieve a file document even if the search term you used appears only once in the text of the document. To be effective, it is important to narrow the focus of your search. Each search engine works a little differently, so it is important to understand the way the search engine you are using works.

There are some general principles that govern the way most search engines work. An understanding of these principles will result in more successful searches.

• Search engines make use of the words AND, OR and NOT in establishing logical relationships between words entered into the Search Field. These words are useful in broadening or narrowing the focus of your search. They are known as Boolean operators.

How to use these Terms

• Use AND between words when you want to require that both words appear in the document.
  EXAMPLE: tobacco AND prevention will return search results in which both tobacco and prevention are mentioned in the document.
• Use OR between words when it doesn't matter which word is contained in the document.
  EXAMPLE: tobacco OR cigarettes will return search results in which either the word tobacco or the word cigarettes is mentioned.
• Use NOT in front of a word when you want to eliminate documents containing that word.
  EXAMPLE: tobacco NOT settlement will return results that contain the word tobacco, but not the word settlement.

• Typing your search terms in all lowercase letters will return results for both uppercase and lowercase spellings. Use capitalized letters only if you want to search for terms written exactly that way in a document. Also, most search engines will interpret the singular spelling of a word as either the singular or plural form. If you only want the plural form, type it that way in the Search Field.

It is important to review the "Help" or "Search Tips" at each search tool to understand how it makes use of Boolean logic. For example, in some search tools the space between words in the Search Field is viewed as OR, while in others it is viewed as AND.

Some search engines have a variation of the Boolean operators AND and NOT in which a + symbol before the word (with no space between) means that the word is required, and a - symbol before a word means that only documents that do not include that word will be returned.

Additionally, some search engines have the option of clicking on "All Terms" which is like using AND between terms, or clicking on "Any Terms" which is like using OR between all terms.

To Learn More:

For information on the features of different search tools, you can go to these Web addresses:

The University At Albany Libraries at:

http://library.albany.edu/internet/choose.html

The UC Berkeley Library website contains a table of search engines that includes the criteria these search engines use to rank their results:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/
TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
ToolsTables.html

• Search engines often have a feature known as Phrase Searching. This requires that all words enclosed by quotation marks appear in exactly that order in any document that is retrieved. This is a powerful search technique and helps to narrow your results.

EXAMPLE: "substance abuse" will return results that contain the phrase substance abuse, and not documents that contain just the word substance or just the word abuse or documents that might contain both words, but not in any specific relationship to each other.

• Some search engines allow you to abbreviate or truncate your term by adding an asterisk * to the main part of the word. The search engine will then return results containing the root word and any variations. EXAMPLE: child* will return results containing the words child and children.

Additional Search Engine Information

• Search engines return results according to different types of relevancy ranking criteria. Variations can include: retrieving documents where the search terms appear in the title, the URL or the heading; the number of times the terms appear in the text of the document; if the search terms appear close together in the document; etc. Some tools allow you to determine the ranking criteria when you use their Advanced Search option. Knowing the criteria can help you decide which search tool to use or how far to continue to look through retrieved documents.
• Many search engines do not group multiple pages from the same source together as one listing. Therefore, you get many hits on the same website and your long list may have many duplicate websites.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how a search engine works, you can formulate an effective search or query, by following these six steps:

1. Analyze your topic and state what you want to find.
   EXAMPLE: I want to find websites dealing with the prevention of substance abuse among teens.
2. List keywords and phrases.
   EXAMPLE: Keywords and phrases from the above example: prevention, substance abuse and teens.
3. Think of possible synonyms, equivalent terms, or unique words related to your search topic or terms.
   EXAMPLE: Some equivalent terms for teens might be youth or adolescents. (Note: some search engines allow you to group synonyms together by using parentheses and separating them with Boolean OR as in (teens OR youth OR adolescents). This allows you to search for any of the terms in one search attempt.
4. Put quotation marks around any phrases.
   EXAMPLE: In the above example you would put quotation marks around the phrase "substance abuse."
5. Combine key words that you want to require in all returned documents with AND.

   EXAMPLE of one possible search combination:

   • prevention AND "substance abuse" AND teens

   ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES (depending on search tool used):

   • prevention AND "substance abuse" AND adolescents

   • +prevention +"substance abuse" +youth

   • substance abuse prevention youth

6. Type one of these combinations into the Search Field box. Click on Search or Go, or hit the Enter/Return key.

Remember that you have to set up your search according to the features of each search tool. All search tools have different formatting rules.

Tip: Some search tools allow you to do Field Searching. This lets you search for key words or phrases in the Title, Domain, URL or other fields of a document. (See the Advanced Search help on the search tool for more information.)

Tip: Some browsers have a Find feature available through the Text Menu at the top of your screen. (It is sometimes listed under Edit.) This button can locate a particular term within a downloaded document so that you don't have to read through the entire document to find out where your search term is located. This allows you to quickly decide whether or not the document will be a useful resource for you.

Tip: For advanced search strategies check the Advanced Search Help on each search tool.

Too many search results?

• Add additional search terms. Some search engines allow you to refine your search within the existing results.
• Use terms that are specific to your topic.
• Use Boolean NOT to exclude documents that are not relevant if that option is available on your search tool.
• Take advantage of any other Advanced Search features available on your search engine.

Too few search results?

• Use more general, broad category terms.
• Leave out less important terms.
• Use Boolean OR to add synonyms or different spellings for terms if this feature is available on the search tool you are using.
• Try using a different search engine.
• Try using a metasearch engine or a directory.

A NOTE IN CLOSING

These guidelines, mixed with a little patience, a dose of humor and a sense of adventure, should help you on your way to successful searching of the Internet! Please share this Guide and share your knowledge. The best way to really learn is to teach what you’ve learned to others.

To Learn More: For an interactive tutorial on search techniques try the following:

UC Berkeley has an online tutorial "Finding Information on the Internet A TUTORIAL" available at: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

The University At Albany Libraries Internet Tutorials are available at this address: http://library.albany.edu/internet/