Effective web search techniques

Introduction
Do you think you are searching the Internet effectively?
Have you been frustrated by search results that are
confusing or not relevant?
Web searches are not always intuitive, and there are steps
you can follow to access even the deep, invisible web…

Formulating Effective Searches
How often do you have to search the search results to find the
information you were seeking?
Do you identify key words when typing in the search bar? Have
you ever parsed a phrase or sentence? These are ways to make
web searches more effective. The following slides will cover these
techniques.

Question must be scaled down to operative terms
Key words - Essential for communicating what you need. Circle
them. Often they are common or proper nouns.
“Maybe” words – Words that might not be necessary or better
expresses in an “alternative phrasing”. Underline them.
Missing words – Identify any missing information. What does the
search engine need to identify sources? Write them in.
Unnecessary words – Identify and cross them out.
Source: Bergson-Michelson & Glass, Google Search Education

Analyzing the Search Question
Parsing to arrive at a better query

Search Question is Edited to Arrive at Search Query
Question
Becomes
Cheetah running speed
Search
Query
How fast can a cheetah
run?

Every word matters – who, the who, and a who are all
different queries
Punctuation and capitalization do not matter, (except
in Boolean operators)
Word order matters – blue sky does not get same
results as sky blue
Limit search by designating language and media type
(image, video, book, journal article)

Techniques to Narrow and Deepen Search Results
Quotation marks – Used for phrases and results will only
show words as phrased – “Navy Ghost Blimp”
Range operator – Results contain numbers in a range by
specifying two numbers, separated by two periods, with no
spaces – [ recumbent bicycle $250..$1000 ]
Boolean operators qualify searches: AND, OR, NOT
(Always typed in uppercase)
Ecology AND Pollution – Only results with both words
Ecology OR Pollution – Results with either word
Ecology NOT Pollution – Results with ecology not pollution

OR [keyword1 OR keyword 2]
All results that contain either keyword
AND [keyword1 AND keyword2] =
results contain both words (Google and
Yahoo use this operator by default)
Boolean Operator Searches
NOT [keyword1 -keyword2] =
results excludes keyword2 from
search results
Source: Smarty, Search Engine Journal

Go beyond the visible web to the invisible or deep web
 Visible web – Content that is available through major
search engines.
 Deep web– Content not available through search engines.
Includes many essential academic research tools such as
statistics and scholarly work. For example, pages from
government websites for the Bureau of Labor Statistics
and the Navy do not show up in standard queries.

Using context terms to access the deep web – Identifying
and utilizing different collections of information
 Database
 Archives
 Reference
 Bibliography
 Works Cited
 Museum
 Exhibit
 Encyclopedia
 Pathfinder
 Collection

Using Boolean operators
and context terms leads
to search results from
the previously invisible
deep web

Search deeper with SITE: operator
site: + website title
(rhinoresourcenter.com) + other
word or words (rescue). The “site
operator” should be written all in
lower case.
This allows searches within specific
websites, especially useful for
those that do not offer search
functions.

Use a Minus Sign to eliminate
unwanted results
A minus sign in front of a word in
a query prohibits the search
engine from returning any page
with that word on it.
The query “eagles-philadelphia”
assures that results will not
pertain to the NFL football team.

Add a tilde (~) before a search
term (with no space) to ask to look
for a wider variety of spellings or
related terms
In this case, the search delivered
results with the word extinct as
well as endangered.

Use an asterisk (*) to fill in the
blank for an unknown entity.
The query is: Each year, N people
die of AIDS. The asterisk solves for
N.
It could also be used multiple
times in one query [ “Conquering
the * and * of Grief“ ]

Use a filetype operator when
searching for a specific type of file.
This query [parts of a microscope
filetype:swf] is looking for a flash
file to illustrate the microscope’s
parts.
The search could have specified
other file extensions such as pdf or
doc for written instructions.

“Deep” Search
Let’s find out about the Navy Ghost Blimp. Is the story
just based upon a rumor? Can you find anywhere on
the Navy website that talks about the story as if it
really took place?
Not as easy as it seems … go back and look at the
techniques discussed to perform a “deep” search.

“Deep” Search Results

References
Bergson-Michelson, T. & Glass, K. (n.d.) Narrowing a search to get the best results.
Google Search Education. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dcbsfbvq_9696dtmg4dq
Bergson-Michelson, T. & Glass, K. (n.d.) Picking the right search terms, advanced lesson
1. Google Search Education. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dcbsfbvq_1017fdzjnp5h&start=7
Bergson-Michelson, T. & Glass, K. (n.d.) Picking the right search terms, beginner lesson
1. Google Search Education. Retrieved from
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dcbsfbvq_1283dtjfh9g3
Google. (2010, March 4) How search works. [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHR6IQJGZs
Smarty, A. (2008, October 16). How to use Boolean search operators : SEO application.
Search Engine Journal. Retrieved from http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-
use-boolean-search-operators-seo-application/7822/

Effective web search techniques

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Effective web search techniques