Search
Tips
Tried the search engines, but still couldn't
find your topic? Or maybe you got tired of looking through
200 hits to get to a good one. Keep in mind that though
700,000 hits may be retrieved by a search engine, you
will usually only have access to the first 200. Try making
your search more effective by using these tips. Back
to Internet Basics.
Directories are usually better at finding general information, while
search engines are generally best at finding very specific information.
Try several search engines, decide which one you are most comfortable
with, and learn to use that one well.
Learn about a search engine's options by printing out the help pages.
Most search engines have help for both basic and more advanced
searches.
- can be used in most search engines to exclude terms, and + can
be used to require terms. Example: Bill Clinton -Monica
Quotes can be placed around any set of words sought as a phrase (these
words in this order). Example: "handicapped children"
Use synonyms--try to think of several different ways that your serch
term or concept could be stated. Example: multicultural, cultural
differences and diversity could all be used for the same concept.
Most search engines are case sensitive--if you use capital letters
in your search, you may end up getting hits only where the phrase
was used with caps. By using all lower case you can retrieve the instances
where it was used with capital letters as well as lower case. Example:
Multicultural Education will retrieve fewer hits than multicultural
education.
Use truncation where available--truncation allows you to retrieve
the term and variations on the term. Check the search engine's help
to see if truncation is supported, and what symbol(s) are used. In
some engines you can use a ?, in others it may be a *, or another symbol.
Example: cultur? will retrieve culture, cultures, cultural, culturally,
etc.
Double check your spelling--if you have misspelled a word your results
will probably not be good.
Use the Boolean operators and,
or, not to make your search more effective.
Can't find your search term on one of your hit pages? One Web page
is actually a file, which may be one physical page, 20 physical
pages or more. In Netscape or Internet Explorer, go to Edit on the
toolbar,
choose Find in page..., enter your term in the box, and it will
take you right to the spot(s) your term is located.
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