How to Search More Efficiently
Overwhelmed by the number of search engines? Not sure which to use?
Try this site for some ideas about choosing a search engine that works best for your search topic:
http://www.internettutorials.net/choose.asp
Once you’ve chosen the best search engine for your topic, the tips below can help you narrow your search results:
| + | If a keyword is ESSENTIAL to your search results, add a plus sign in front of the word or phrase. |
| - | If a keyword might have more than one meaning, you can include a minus sign in front of another term that would change your intended results (example– principal –school). |
| ” “ | If the search engine does not give you the option to choose ANY, ALL, or PHRASE, enclose your keywords in quotation marks. |
| Domain restriction | If you know the website you want to search, but you’re looking for something specific within that website ONLY– type your keyword followed by the word site and a colon, then type the URL (example– policies site:www.mpsomaha.org). |
| Search Engine Specific Advanced Tools | Look for links on search engines for search help, advanced searches, tips, etc. This is a great tool… do you want results in a specific language? specific file format? pages that have been updated within the last year, month, week, day? Advanced Search tools on search engines are the way to really narrow your search results! |
