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- When using a search engine, read the Help screens.
This will usually give you helpful information about
how the search engine is programmed to work (for
instance, whether it is case sensitive, whether
it allows wildcards, etc.)
- When searching on a phrase, try putting the terms
between quotation marks or putting a "plus
symbol" (+) between the words.
- Find out whether you can limit your search by
fields, such as the titles of documents.
- Understand the scope of the search engine. Some
search engines search the full text of webpages
while others scan only certain parts, maybe the
titles or descriptions. Also, realize that some
search engines claim to search the entire Internet,
while others list only the sites they choose to.
- Some search engines (Lycos
is one) offer image searching. If you are looking
specifically for pictures, you might want to try
one of these services.
- Use subject-specific search engines when possible.
For example, Deja.com specializes in Usenet newsgroups,
while Yahoo People Search is geared towards
searching for people.
- Sometimes you can restrict your search using a
rating system. Lycos, for example, offers the option of searching
just the top 5% of the sites they consider to be
of the highest quality.
- Some search engines allow Boolean searching, using
words like AND, NOT, NEAR and so on. Often found
on the advanced search page, this feature can be
very useful for doing complicated searches.
- For a straightforward search which might result
in a high volume of matches, use a selective search
engine like Yahoo!
- When all else fails, double-check your spelling,
try using synonyms, or try another search engine.
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