You can learn how to quickly and knowledgably search with the following information. By: Kataryna Cookman

Quick Tip Searching for “anything related to the root” you can use a truncation. Ex: *dog This tells the search engine to look for anything that deals with dogs. It is a vague search. ml ml

Keyword Search You can use the “(your search criteria)” This will allow you to limit the search. If there is anything that is related to this search in which you do not want to include you can ‘subtract’ that from your search with the next key tip. search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Quick Tip In order to ‘subtract’ information in your search to fit your searching request, you can use the – sign in front of the information that you would rather not include in your search. Ex: animals –kangaroo tml tml

Quick Tip The opposite of subtraction is addition. When you are trying to add information to your search you can easily do this with the + symbol. Ex: milk +chocolate chip cookies Remember to leave a space in between the two words but in between the symbol and word do not put a space. ml ml

Keyword Search Order makes all the difference in some searches. Place the most important words in the front of your search. Without doing this in some cases will make your search more vague and less beneficial to you. – Ex: poodle dog If you were to type in ‘dog poodle’ you are telling the search engine to look for dogs with a look out for poodles. Instead of just poodles. » search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Keyword Search If you are looking for something specific make sure to type in everything you know that is relevant to the subject. Ex: Land Before Time IV If you were going to search for a movie like Land Before Time IV and you type in Land Before Time you will most likely be limiting your search to just the first Land Before Time unless you specify the IV th movie. search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Search Engine Tips To search for anything in between a weight or within a price range, “to” in between these two amounts may cause the search engine problems so instead use “..” Ex: solid color t-shirts x-small..large search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Definition Search This is one of the easiest searches but only if you know what you are doing. All you have to do is type in ‘define:’ or ‘definition:’ and then the word that you wish to define. – Ex: define: tofu – Ex: definition: tofu They will both get you to the same search. » search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Person Search If you are trying to look up somebody whether they live 2 sec. or 2, 000 mi the web should be able to find their “phonebook identity” for you. Just type in first name, last name, city, state (optional), area code (optional), zip code (optional), if you do not have some of the required information don‘t worry just type in the following optional areas. » search-tricks.htm search-tricks.htm

Boolean Search It allows you to use the words AND, OR, and NOT. In some cases that are too generalized the computer the search engine doesn’t like to assume any information other than that of the searched items. Like recipes, in order to define this search to meet your standards you can add the word AND, recipes AND muffins. If you are allergic to nuts perhaps you want to include the NOT for example, recipes AND muffins NOT nuts. » n.htm n.htm

Boolean Search When searching with this type of search you want to include the AND/OR search in parenthesis. Ex: fruit (cantaloupe OR muskmelon) Ex: fruit (cantaloupe AND muskmelon) This limits your search to either/or you can also do this to increase your search, either way it benefits you to your search likings. tml tml

Advanced Search GOOGLE ( : There are a few different types of advanced searches that you can perform and many different advanced search engines that you can be successful with this search. Google has one of the best advanced search engines on the web.

Advanced Search Now let’s say that you have a topic that is specific but doesn’t fit into this category, no need to worry, there are other fields that you can search in. For example the “Language”, “Region”, “File Format”, “Date”, “Numeric Range”, “Occurrences”, “Domain”, “Usage Rights”, and “Safe Search” search. This search option helps find past events. Google

Advanced Search One of the more common advanced search areas involve the “with all the words”, “with the exact phrase”, “with at least one of the words”, or “without the words” settings. This is a simple, less time consuming and definitely less frustrating for someone if they had a specific topic that they were searching for. Google

Advanced Search Page Specific Search also limits some of the generalizations that may be possible, this allows you to limit the page in which you had searched on a web site. Google

Advanced Search: DOGPILE.COM “All of these Words” This refers to a phrase or words that you would like to search by. This is helpful just because the regular search engine often times limits itself to certain words. Ex: computer windows DVD HP CD blue nceSearch=1/rfcid=414/rfcp=Top/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=tru e&qcat=Web

Advanced Search: DOGPILE.COM “The exact phrase” I know that sometimes I know a phrase in which I would like to search but with a regular search engine I seem to just get the searched sites that have bits and pieces of my phrase. Ex: teardrops on my guitar This is a tricky phrase just because it involves a lot of words. This advanced search is perfect for the format. nceSearch=1/rfcid=414/rfcp=Top/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=tru e&qcat=Web

Advanced Search: DOGPILE.COM “Any of these words” Searches for a phrase that isn’t exactly the way you think the phrase should go, or perhaps you are interested in the phrase but not everything has to be exactly worded like that. Ex: green/blue sweatshirts Green or just blue sweatshirts will be just fine. nceSearch=1/rfcid=414/rfcp=Top/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=tru e&qcat=Web

Advanced Search: DOGPILE.COM “None of these words” This refines your search. You have to enter in another field in order for it to make sense to the computer Ex: Banana, strawberry, Kiwi nceSearch=1/rfcid=414/rfcp=Top/_iceUrlFlag=11?_IceUrl=tru e&qcat=Web

Advanced Search: IN GENERAL With the advanced search the more areas you use the more specific your search will be. The fields which you choose to use, many can be used by themselves but the search will turn out a lot better and more accurate if you can fill in more then one field of search.