Advanced Searching

There are so many little techniques and tips that can assist you with your searches.  No matter who you think you are and how much knowledge of searching on the internet you have, there will always be new things to learn.   I’m learning everyday through this course and related research.

Earlier during my search for my first blog for this chapter, I ran across Boolean commands.  The book actually refers to them as Boolean operators (2010, Shelly).  Boolean commands help to refine your search.  By having key words in your search, the results will vary.  Take for example the Boolean command “AND”.  You are saying that you want all the words in your search to appear in your results.  If you add the command “OR”, you are opening up your research to show results for any site that contains at least one of the words that you searched for.

 

As mentioned earlier, I am in constant flux learning new things.  You are going to laugh, but there is this thing called “Advanced Search” on your search engine page.  I never knew that clicking on it would allow me to be more precise with my search.  This would have been so helpful to know a few months back because I was trying to find a website that I had previously viewed (and forgot to mark as favorite).  For the life of me, I couldn’t remember exactly what words I searched for and I was getting different results.  The one thing I did remember was that it was a PDF file version.  With Advanced Search, my results would have been more tailored to my needs.

What do think about the “Advanced Search”?  Is it something you find helpful?  Now be honest with me, did you even know that it was there?

References

Boolean Commands, 2010 Media Awareness Network

http://www.media%20awareness.ca/english/resources/special_initiatives/wa_resources/wa_teachers/tipsheets/search_internet_effectively.cfm

Shelly, Napier, Rivers  Discovering the Internet  2010

      Course Technology, Cengage Learning, Boston, Massachusetts