The following tips and suggestions will assist in more successful results on Internet Searches:

I. Before starting a search, choose a search engine that suits your purpose.  It easily becomes habit to use one favorite search engine for all  your searches.  
    The Website http://library.albany.edu/internet/choose.html is an excellent resource for choosing an appropriate search engine for your

II. Using Keyword Searches- This is the preferred method used by most people.  The user types in the desired keyword and the search engine retrieves       
     documents containing those words at the top of documents and words used many times within the documents. To minimize your number of matches, make sure
     you are using the most specific words or phrases  possible. Try to avoid the use of common words. Be sure to spell words correctly.  You need to know if the
     search engine is case sensitive or if
     it just searches the tops of documents for matches.  Refer to Tip one for search engine choices.
 
III. Boolean Searches- The following words or symbols will narrow your search:
        Use the + symbol or the word AND  to make sure the search engine lists all keywords between the symbols.  
                For example, if I wanted documents containing the words  "Algebra" and "Geometry", I would type  + Algebra + Geometry .

        Use the - symbol or the word NOT  to eliminate a document that contains a certain word..  
               For example, if I wanted documents containing the word  "Algebra" but NOT "Geometry", I would type  + Algebra  - Geometry .

        Use the "  "  symbol to retrieve documents that contain the keywords in the exact order they are typed  between the symbols.  
                For example, if I wanted documents containing "Algebra Geometry", I would type  " Algebra  Geometry".

IV.  Relevancy Ranking-   Use an advanced search to minimize your results. It becomes very cumbersome to look through a huge number of hits to determine
         which best suit your needs.  This tool allows you to go beyond the general search and assign relevance weights
         to your keyword terms before conducting the search.  Check for the Advanced Search feature on the search engine.

V.   Trim the URL.  If you are searching for a URL address that is long, use only the beginning portion of  the address. 
        For example, http://blackboard.mcdaniel.edu/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_633_1&frame=top  may result in an error message if the page was
        moved or address changed.  Use instead:  http://blackboard.mcdaniel.edu.