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Setting Up Your Search Understanding T ry different search
• Use nouns (people, places, things) as query keywords Your engines and see if you
• Skip these words: a, the, he, it, and, or, to, and from in your queries
• Use 6 to 8 keywords per query Search Results get different results.
• Spell carefully, and consider alternate spellings Suppose you’re doing
A successful Internet search can take several tries. But remember: it’s estimated that there research on Abraham
are between 200 and 800 million documents online, with no master system for organizing this Lincoln when he was a
information! No wonder effective searches take know-how, patience, and ingenuity. lawyer in Illinois. - You
type your keywords in Google and here’s
what comes up: How do you know
Advanced Search Techniques which pages to check?
Wikipedia: Gives a good overview about
Most people know when you type keywords or a phrase into the search box like nursing jobs a topic, but it is generated by user
Greenwood, it will pull up pages that contain the individual terms, but not necessarily contributions which may be wrong,
together. If you type the phrase in quotes “nursing jobs Greenwood” it will search for pages outdated, or incomplete. Don’t use it
with that exact phrase. Here are some additional tips for getting the results you want:
as your primary source. Use its links to
Quotes - If you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. [“nursing jobs Greenfield”] find additional sources.
will only find that exact phrase. [“nursing jobs” Greenfield] will find pages that contain the word Sites that don’t relate at all:
Greenfield and the exact phrase “nursing jobs”.
These are links to current attorneys who
Not - If you don’t want a term or phrase, use the “-” symbol. [-nursing jobs Greenfield] will return practice in Lincoln, IL or Illinois
pages that contain “jobs” and “Greenfield” but that don’t contain “nursing”.
Good sources:
Wildcard - The * symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you’re trying to find the lyrics to a song, but A brief summary of the
can’t remember the exact lyrics. [can’t * me love lyrics] will return the Beatles song you’re looking for. legal career of Abraham Lincoln
It’s also useful for finding stuff only in certain domains, such as educational information: [“nursing
jobs Greenfield” research *.edu]. Related Searches:
Use these alternative search keywords
to refine your search. In this case
Abraham Lincoln lawyer career might
Using Bookmarks in Your Browser give you better results.
Bookmarks are links to websites you’ve visited in your browser. Whether you’re using Internet Explorer, Adjusting your Search:
Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or another browser, they all have a bookmark or favorites tool. It usually appears
on the top toolbar of the browser as a star. When you click it, you save that site so you can go back to Click on Next to continue your search
with the same terms.
it later. Each browser has tools where you can create file folders for your bookmarks and organize your
links so you can save related pages together. Change your search by clicking on
a related search, or redefine your
Set up a bookmark folder when you begin researching a new topic. Then when you save a page, move keywords like:
it to the correct folder. When you need to go back and check the site again or reference your sources, you “Abraham Lincoln” legal career
can quickly find the correct site. Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of
Google Inc., used with permission.