Searching Effectively
On The Web
With the vast and ever-expanding collection of information on the Internet, it is important to know how to use search services effectively to locate the content you want. Although Web search strategies can (and have) filled entire books, the basics are relatively simple.
Know a few search engines
Use several search services
Search engines vs. search directories
Query words
Search Syntax and Boolean Logic
Working with pieces of a Puzzle
Know the names of the major search engines.
These include Altavista (www.altavista.com), Hotbot (www.hotbot.com), Northern Light (www.northernlight.com) , Google (www.google.com), and so on. A comprehensive list of search engines can be found at www.beaucoup.com.
Use several search services
Keep in mind that each search engine is built differently, and so will return a unique set of results for the same query. This means that you should utilize a variety of search engines to locate hard-to-find information; one search engine may have the link you need that another one does not.
Search engines vs. search directories
Differentiate between directory services ( www.yahoo.com) and true search engines (most of the well-known ones such as AltaVista, Google, etc.). Directory services use humans to categorize items; true search engines use automated "bots" to find and classify data. Directory services tend to have higher-quality items but a much lower number of items. Thus, directory services are great for locating general information but not so good for highly-specific information.
Query words
Put some thought into your choice of query words. A search phrase which is too specific may return no results; on the other hand, something which is too general may return many irrelevancies. Think of synonyms of your search term to use as well as the original term. Nouns are best to use in a search. Verbs, adverbs, and adjectives tend to be useful only when they have a highly specific meaning. Leave off all prepositions (of, in, at, etc.) and articles (the, a, an); in most cases they add nothing to a search. In general, use 3 to 5 search terms.
Search Syntax and Boolean Logic
Learn how to use search syntax and the Boolean operators to maximize your search success. Many search engines are capable of using these features. Hotbot and Google are particularly good in this regard. Boolean operators and special syntax are very useful in making your search query very specific and in helping to filter out irrelevant results. Check out the help sections associated with a search engine to learn about these advanced techniques.
Working with pieces of a Puzzle
Remember that finding the information you want on the Web is a bit like a puzzle. Sometimes it takes a bit of work to make the pieces fit. Try different approaches when you hit a snag; modify your query as well as try new search engines. Preliminary searches may give you an idea on how to better approach your search.