Searching

As with most everything, technique goes a looong way towards finding online information quickly. Here are some tips for when searching the Internet.

Boolean Operators

Online Tutorials

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators are words like AND, OR, NOT and symbols like * and $ . Boolean operators can help search the vast amount of online information. Try using the following words and symbols when searching for online information.

The plus sign (+) designates which words must appear in the results. For example:

+bee hive honey
(where the word "bee" must appear in the results)

The minus sign (-) designates which words cannot appear in the results. For example:

bee -hive honey
(where the word "hive" will not appear in the results)

Quotation marks (") group two or more words to make a term or phrase. For example:

"buzz the hive"
(results will only find information that contain this phrase)

The word and (AND) is a connecter. For example:

The AND Beeline
(results will contain both words)

The word or (OR) is another connector except that only one of the options will appear in the results. For example:

up OR down
(only one of these two words can appear in the results)

The word not (NOT) is similar to the minus sign (-) and used to exclude words. For example:

fire NOT department
(prevents the term "fire department" from appearing in the results)

The word near (NEAR) on some search sites will find two words within 10 words of each other. For example:

stephanie NEAR miller

Parentheses ( ( ) ) groups sets of advanced query operators together. For example:

mountains and (everest or mckinley)
(whereby one or both mountains will appear in the results)

The asterisk (*) and dollar sign ($) characters are used as wild cards. For example:

whit*
(words bee-ginning with "whit" -- like white, whitman, etc. -- will appear in the results)

Online Tutorials

Do you want to learn more about searching the Internet? We Bees have found some excellent tutorials to help you.

Mining Company's Web Search Guide -- Information, tips & tricks, and other online resources for search engine users.

Search Engine Watch -- Follows and reports on the major search engines. Great online source for learning how to achieve high rankings for your Web site.

SearchE: Using Web Search Engines Effectively -- An e-mail course sponsored by the American Library Association.

Sink or Swim: Internet Search Tools and Techniques -- Introduction to search engines (includes strategies, tips as well as learning exercises).

Spider's Apprentice, The -- Information and tips on Web searching.