Sometimes the internet can seem overwhelming due to the vast amount of information available. It is difficult to know where to begin, when you search for a topic and several thousand results come back. Here are some tips to assist you in the use of search engines so that you can make the most of your time, and find what you are looking for.

1. When typing in your search topic, use the plus sign between words rather than spaces. When you do this, each word that you entered will be included in the search rather than just one. The number of results that come back will also be reduced.

After all, who really needs 300,000 or more search results?

Example: civil+war+documents

2. Be specific in your search. Again, this will cut down on the unbelievable number of results that come back, and allow you to find what you are looking for more quickly.

Example: Instead of civil+war+documents search for the gettysburg+ address

3. Use quotations to search for a specific phrase. Using quotes will prompt your search engine to find the exact words listed in the order that you typed them in.

Example: “four score and seven years ago”

(this will return results for the Gettysburg Address, as this is the exact text found in it)

4. Sometimes your search term has more than one meaning. Google uses the example “bass” which can refer to fish or music. To avoid getting results for the meaning you are not searching for, type in your search term and put a minus sign in front of a word which refers to the meaning you are not searching for.

Example: bass-lakes

This means you want your search to return results on Bass as it relates to music, not lakes.

5. When searching for pages that contain either of two alternatives of interest, use an uppercase OR.

Example: “cape cod boating OR fishing”

6. Don’t worry about capitalizing words that you normally would when writing. Search engines generally are not case sensitive.

created by Shannon Leister

For SLM521

3/10/06