Tips to Improve Your Searches

     1. Decide whether to use a subject directory or a search engine.

     2. Understand what you are looking for an know some of the words of your search topic.   A broad, poorly worded search question will yield useless information.

     3. The first time you use a new search engine, take the time to read the Tips files and FAQs.

     4. Each search engine is different.  Select your favorite and learn its unique features.

     5. All search engines are not the same.  Use different search engines and compare.

     6. When searching for a proper name, capitalize the first letter of each word.

    7. Use quotation marks when doing a phrase search.

     8. Learn to use a wildcard (*) to find word phrases or word combinations.

     9. Watch your spelling.  Misspelling a word changes the search results.

     10. Learn to use Boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT).   All search engines use it.

     11. Beware of terms with double meanings.  Search engines aren't mind readers.

     12. If it is not clear why a search engine retrieved a document, use the browser's FIND button to search for the text in the current document.

For more help, try The Spider's Apprentice.

Return to Subject Directories or Search Engines

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