Searching the Internet
An Overview

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Searches - A Guide to Search Tools

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Search Tools

• Directory
• categories with hyperlinks
• indices
• trees
• hierarchical search system
• Search Engine
• Search expression = query
• Key-word Indices
• Robots  (web-bots), Spiders
• Filters - language, date, domain, etc...
• Boolean logic  (power/advanced search)
• Meta-Search
• All-in-One Search Pages
• Other resources

Boolean Logic
• AND (=both)
• OR (=either)
• NOT (exclusion)
• parentheses  ( )
• +/- (plus/minus) (must include/must exclude)
  • + (plus) may also mean "exactly as is" or "match that word precisely as you typed it" (Google)
• quotation marks ("double" or 'single')
• Become Better With Search Engines - Boolean Search Logic Explained

Help = Tips
• Each search tool has some kind of online help.  Each search tool is different.  You must learn the special features of each search tool.
Wildcards
• * (asterisk) replaces part of a word
• Is there a maximum number of characters that the wildcard can replace?  Check "Help" for that search tool.  Each search tool is different.
• ~ (tilde) (include similar terms = terms like this = synonyms or near synonyms) (Google)
Proximity Operators
• Near "Search Phrase"
• Can you specify how far apart the words or phrases will be?
Refining a search
• You must use the right search tool for the type of information you are looking for.  You must experiment and practise using the various search tools.  You want a reasonable number of hits and you want the hits to contain exactly the information you expected.
• Try using the "Power Search" or "Advanced Search" for each search tool.
• Is there an option to limit the search to certain sites or categories?
• Try running ths same search on several search tools.
• Include the exact search phrase in quotation marks.
• Is case important in that search tool?  Uppercase/Lowercase
• Try different or alternate spellings.
• Try synonyms.
• Add site:thewebsite.com to your search. For instance searching for html markup validation service site:w3.org narrows down your search from 153,000 to 3,900 sites. (Google)