1. Boolean logic
2. Phrases
3. Exact URL of a site
4. Specifying the domain
1. Boolean logic
Use the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT to link keywords and phrases together. The operators limit your search and generate more relevant �hits� (websites that match your search criteria as closely as possible). This will help prevent results that indicate 2 million pages match your search!
Use AND (the Alta Vista search engine uses the + sign rather than AND) to find two or more keywords or phrases in the same website. Using AND limits your search results by finding only websites that contain both keyword or phrase.
Example: �apple trees� AND Massachusetts
Finds websites that are about both apple trees and Massachusetts (limited # of hits)
Use OR to find websites that contain only one of the words or phrases listed in the search command. Using OR expands your search results by finding websites that contain either keyword or phrase.
Example: �apple trees� OR Massachusetts
Finds websites either about apple trees or about Massachusetts (many more hits)
Use NOT (the � sign in Alta Vista) to restrict your search.
Example: �apple trees� NOT Massachusetts
Finds apple tree websites that do not mention Massachusetts
2. Phrases
If you are looking for a phrase rather than several different keywords, place the phrase inside the quotation marks.
Examples:
�apple trees�
�New York Yankees�
�Boston Red Sox�
�heart disease�
�mad cow disease�
3. Exact URL of a site
Use the exact web address (URL) to go directly to a particular website. Type the URL in the address box at the top of the screen.
Examples:
http://www.umass.edu
http://www.historychannel.com
http://www.irs.gov
4. Specifying the Domain*
It is important to evaluate the accuracy of the information contained in a website. One way to do this is to determine in which of the seven main domains the website is located. A website about heart disease posted by an agency ending in .org (such as the American Heart Association), .edu or .gov is generally assumed to be more accurate that a personal website posted by someone through a commercial site.
.com commercial
.net gateway or host
.org non-profit organization
.edu educational and research
.gov government
.mil military agency
.int international, intergovernmental
You can limit a search to a specific domain, increasing the chances that you will retrieve relevant resources.
Examples:
+ domain:edu + �heart disease�
+ domain:org + �heart disease�
+ domain:com + �heart disease�
* This section is based upon an article in the December 2000 issue of T.H.E. Journal � �Online Search Strategies� by Shelley Cudiner and Oskar R. Harmon.