Search Techniques

1. Boolean Searching

• AND/+ used to combine two keywords to narrow your search
• OR       used to widen a search if you have too few hits (or documents); used if a term has a synonym
• NOT -   used to remove terms or concepts

2. Phrase Searching

• Use double inverted commas or quotation marks  (".............")
• For two or more words in a specific order
• Assume that the words always appear in the same order

3. Document fields and types

• Identify fields rather than the whole document e.g. title, URL, image tag, hypertext link
  • intitle:".............."
  • inurl:"..............."
• Limit your searches to different format of documents
  • e.g. powerpoint; PDF; excel
  • ............filetype:ppt
  • .............filetype:pdf
  • link:...............

4. Truncation

• Multiple ending of a word, known as stemming ; different search tools use different characters
  • e.g.  comput*  can have more than one possibilities such as:
    • computer
    • computers
    • computing
    • computation

5. Google advanced

6. Wildcard

• For multiple spelling of a word
• Use a symbol, usually * or ? to replace an internal letter
• examples:
  • col?r
  • wom?n
  • privati?ation