Develop a Search Strategy

Depending on how you enter your Internet search, you can get thousands of results (hits). Therefore, it is helpful to have a search strategy. To help develop your strategy, it is useful to have an understanding of the overall operation of the Web and possible problems you may encounter. A good practice is to use the most specific search terms to describe your topic.

• Directories and search engines allow you to locate useful sites. Directories classify Web sites by subject. Yahoo! is a well known Internet directory. Search engines index words within the documents on Web pages and match them to your search. Google, Ask and AlltheWeb are examples of search engines. No search engine or directory covers all of the Internet's documents. Most cover one half or less.
• A MetaSearch engine submits your keywords to several search engines and their databases simultaneously. Within a few seconds, you receive the combined results from all the search engines queried.
• Use "Help" in each directory or search engine to find the best way to formulate your search.
• If you want to find an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the phrase when you enter words in the search box. Example: "apple pie"
• Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT, NEAR
  • Some search engines or directories are case sensitive, requiring upper case or lower case, while some accept either upper or lower.
    • AND... locates only documents containing all specified words or phrases. A "+" before each word essentially "ANDs" the search terms. Examples: dogs and cats locates only documents containing both dogs and cats; +personnel +theories locates documents containing personnel AND theories.
    • OR... locates documents containing at least one of the specified words or phrases. Example: dogs or cats locates documents containing dogs, locates documents containing cats, and locates documents containing both.
    • NOT... excludes documents containing the specified word or phrase. "-" is equivalent to NOT and means to exclude the term; the "-" should be placed directly in front of the search term. Example: dogs not cats or dogs -cats locates only documents containing dogs but not cats.
    • NEAR... finds documents containing both specified words or phrases within 10 words of each other. Example: dogs near cats locates only documents containing dogs within 10 words of cats.
    • ( )... means the Boolean operators can be nested using parentheses. Example: dogs and (cats not kittens) near food

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Seminole State's Library has one of the most extensive collections of literature and educational materials in Seminole County.