Smart Searching Techniques

for Online Resources

Smart Searching
Using. . .
 Search Terms joined by
Boolean Operators
 Nesting

 Phrase Searching

 Truncation
 Why do I need to know this?
 These principles are the
foundation of searching in all
search engines & online resources
(whether you realize it or not!)
– Google, Bing, etc.
– Alexandria (library catalog)
– ProQuest
– eLibrary
– SIRS
 Why do I need to know this?
 Being a Smart Searcher means
being a CRITICAL CONSUMER of
information
 NOT being a “point, click, copier,
and paster”
 How can you be a critical
consumer if you don’t know the
product?
 Boolean Operators
(Connectors)
• “AND,” “OR,” and “NOT”
• Used to combine search
terms (keywords)
• Tells search engines which
keywords you want your
results to include or exclude
 Boolean Operators

• Each Boolean operator has a

different effect:
• OR helps you retrieve more
results
• AND or NOT retrieve fewer
results
 Boolean Operator: AND
• Ex: green eggs AND ham
• Only retrieves documents
containing BOTH (or all)
keywords!
• Like a +
 Boolean Operator: OR
 Tells the search engine that
EITHER or BOTH of your search
terms can appear in your results
– Ex: green eggs OR ham

 Use OR to join (terms

keywords that are
that mean the same)
SYNONYMS
– Ex. college OR university
 Boolean Operator: NOT
 Tells the search engine that
you do not want the word after
the “NOT” to appear in the
results of your search
Ex: green eggs NOT ham
 Searches are done in a
Linear manner
 Unless you indicate otherwise, one
step is accomplished at a time.
– Ex. ham OR bacon AND green eggs

OR AND

OR
 Nesting
 Putting words in parentheses will tell the
search engine to process and group that
part of the search first.
first
Ex. ham OR bacon AND green eggs

( OR ) AND
 Next, the search engine will combine this
result with the last part of the search.
Ex. (ham OR bacon) AND green eggs
 “Phrase Searching”
 Putting words in quotation marks
will tell the search engine to treat
common phrases as one idea.
– Ex: “green eggs and ham”

 It means--give me results with this

exact phrase

“ AND ”
 Truncation
 You can search for related
keywords having the same
ROOT (beginning letters)
by adding an asterisk after
the root letters.
 This is called TRUNCATION

 Also known as stemming

or wildcard
 Truncation / Stemming
 egg*will retrieve both “egg” and
“eggshell”

 And it will also retrieve unrelated words,

like

“eggplant”
 Truncation / Stemming
Example
econom*
Example = _____________
retrieves:
Keyword economy
•economy •economist
•economies •economical

•economics •economically
Some truncations Some stemming
are not “smart”: is not necessary:
 car*
 car  salmon
 cars  global
 carrot warming
 ?
 ?
 ?
 Too Many Results?
 Reduceyour results by
adding more search terms
(keywords) using “AND” or
“NOT”
– green eggs AND ham AND
juice AND toast
– ham AND green eggs NOT
scrambled NOT poached
 Too Few Results?
• Expand your results with
fewer search terms
Ex. green eggs AND ham
AND juice AND toast
• Use “OR” to join search terms
Ex. green eggs AND (ham
OR bacon OR sausage OR
tofu)
 Too Few Results?
• Think of SYNONYMS of your
search terms – join and NEST
them using “OR”
Example:
child abuse AND ( prevent* OR stop)

truncation
prevent* = prevent, prevents, preventing,
prevented, prevention
Smart Searching
Practice
 How can I use this
“Smart Searching” stuff in
Google?
Check out
Advanced Searching
and
Advanced Search Tips
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
1. Automatic ”AND” searching
– Google finds web pages with all of your
search terms. “AND” is automatically
understood between terms.
– The order in which the terms are typed
will affect the search results.
– Example: laws parks skateboarding
 Means laws AND parks AND skateboarding
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
2. "+" search
– Google ignores common words and
characters such as where, the, how, and
other numbers and letters which slow
down your search without improving the
results.
– If a common word is essential to getting
the results you want, you can include it
by putting a "+" sign in front of it.
– Example: x-men +2
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
3. "OR" search
• To find pages that include either of
two search terms, add an
uppercase OR between the terms.
• For example, here's how to search
for a vacation in either London or
Paris:
• Example:
vacation london OR paris
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
4. Synonym search
– If you want to search not only for
your search term but also for its
synonyms, place the tilde sign
("~") immediately in front of your
search term.
– Example: ~car ~hybrid
 will find results with (car or vehicle)
and (hybrid or electric)
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
5. Phrase searches
– Sometimes you'll only want results
that include an exact phrase. In this
case, simply put quotation marks
around your search terms.
– Example:
“chocolate ice cream sandwiches”
(will find those words in that exact order)
 How can I use this “Smart
Searching” stuff in Google?
6. “NOT” searches
– You can by put a minus sign ("-") in
front of words you want to exclude.
– Example: bass
(if you’re looking for the fish not
something musical)
bass –music –guitars