Advanced Internet Searching Tips -1

Link to Search Tips II
28. How to Use Advance Internet search
29. How to Get targeted results
30. How to Define search using Boolean operators

28. Advanced Internet searching tips: Boolean searches
The Name "Search" is just a thing that everyone want to do, it may be for IT, for BIO, for School, For LAW, For Research or for anything in the World. For search whichever search engine you use, these tips will help you find what you're looking for-whether you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer or other Web browser software.

General searching
Use more than one search engine
No search engine indexes all Web sites and Web pages. So if your first search doesn't produce the results you want, try searching with at least one other search engine.

Read the About page
Many search engines have a link that leads to detailed information about how the search engine compiles and searches through information, and how to get the best results from it. Reading this page can save you a lot of time and headaches. Also, visit search engine home page links with names like How To, Search Help, and Advanced Search for searching tips.

29. Get targeted results by being specific
The more specific your search word, the more targeted your search results will be. If you search for the words Labrador retriever, for example, rather than the word dog, your search will yield fewer sites but they will be targeted to the type of dog that interests you.

Get more results by being general
If your search word is too specific, your search may yield few or no results. To get more results, try searching for a related word that is more general.

30. Define your search using Boolean operators
The major search engines let you select whether to search for the exact phrase you typed, all the words in the phrase but not necessarily together, any of the words in a phrase, and so on. A few search engines do not give you such options. In this case, you can define the search yourself by adding one or more words or symbols to your search topic.
1. AND To search for two or more terms on the same page: Type the word AND between the terms (example: sea AND kayak). Or put a plus sign right before the second term (example: sea +kayak).
2. OR To search for either of two (or more) terms on the same page: Type the word OR between the terms (example: kayak OR canoe).
3. AND NOT To search for pages that include the first term and not the second: Type the words AND NOT between the terms (example: kayak AND NOT whitewater). Or put a minus sign right before the second term (example: kayak -whitewater).
4. " " To search for an exact phrase: Enclose the phrase in quotation marks (example: "sea kayak rental").
5. () To group parts of your search: Enclose them in parentheses. For example, type kayak AND (gear OR equipment). This returns pages with both the words kayak and gear or both the words kayak and equipment.
6. * To search for various forms of a word: Add an asterisk to the end of the word (example: kayak*). This returns pages with the words kayak, kayaks, kayaked, kayaking, and so on.

Sites to visit
Boolean Searching on the Internet—a quick study from the University of Albany
Help for Searching Using Boolean Operators

Link to Search Tips II