Search Tips
Knowing how to quickly find the inforamtion you are after
will you get more out of your time on the Net and avoid inappropriate
material. Here are some tips for getting the most out of you
queries:
Read the instruction: Most search engines
explain how to get the best results using their engine, so
read before you start your search.
Be specific but concise: include sufficient
search terms to get the links you want at the top of your
list. Too many terms can result in the page you want being
at or near the bottom of your list. Start with a few terms
and add, remove or replace them one at a time to get better
results.
Go Boolean: Boolean operators AND, OR and
NOT let you include or exclude pages based on their content.Not
all search engines recognise the NOT operstor.
Example: "Sopworth AND Camel AND Snoopy"
will list only pages about the Peanuts character's escapades
as a World War 1 flying ace while using "Sopworth AND
Camel NOT Snoopy" will not include most Peanuts related
pages.
Add quotation marks: To find pages that
mention W.C. Fields but not water closets or farmland, put
quotation marks around your search terms and the search engine
will treat it as a single term.
Example: "W.C.Fields"
Use field specifiers: some search engines
allow field specifiers - keywords that tell the search engine
to perform specific types of searches. Check the search engine's
advance search instruction to see if they support this kind
of searching.
Examples: typing "site:servicesinthebay.com.au"
will restrict the results to pages on the services in the
bay website. Using "link:microsoft.com" will provide
pages that link to Microsoft's site. While typing "url:services"
will result in only sites that contain the word "services"
in the web address.
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