Google is a general search engine that is everyone's favorite these days. It ranks results by the number of links from the largest number of pages also ranked high by the service. The more highly ranked pages that link to a certain page, the higher the linked-to page will be ranked by Google. This unique ranking system can be quite effective.
Special Features:
Drawbacks:
We will be using Google to learn a number of search techniques.
Query: I'd like to learn more about Richard Nixon's resignation.
Search:
This is a good example of a search tool that defaults to AND logic. It wouldn't hurt to use the plus (+) sign in front of each term, +Nixon +resignation, but this is not necessary. However, if you want a common word such as "where" or "with," you should use a plus (+) sign, e.g., +where.
For another way to ensure that all your search terms appear in documents you retrieve, use phrase searching. Enclosing a phrase within quotation marks is a syntax that works on nearly all search engines on the Web.
Query: I'd like to see information on the movie Gone with the Wind.
Search: "Gone with the Wind" [capitalization is not necessary]
Field searching is a way to narrow your search to specific parts of the document or record. Google offers a variety of ways to use field searching to better focus your results. First, let's try a simple search that is not a field search.
Query: I'd like to see information on slavery.
Search: slavery
This is isn't the wisest search to do in a large, full-text database like Google because it brings back too many results.
Let's look into ways to focus our results by using field searching. We will try these searches using Google's basic search box. Keep in mind that most of Google's field search options are also available on their Advanced Search form that is even easier to use.
Search: intitle:slavery
This is a much better search. This search will look for slavery in the title field embedded within the HTML document. Notice how all the page titles contain the word slavery.
Search (c): inurl:slavery
This is also a good alternative search. This search will look for slavery in the URL of the file, e.g., in a subdirectory named slavery, or in a filename such as slavery.html. Notice how all the results contain the word slavery somewhere in the URL.
Query: I'd like information about the Mars rover missions from the NASA site.
Search: +"Mars rover" +site:nasa.gov
This is a nicely-focused search. It uses the plus (+) sign to be sure that all of our search terms appear on the retrieved documents. In addition, the phrase Mars Rover is enclosed in quotation marks, and we have narrowed our search to retrieve documents only from the NASA site.
If field searching appeals to you, Google offers a complete list of Advanced Search Operators that you can examine and try. Also, be sure to check out Google's Advanced Search page. There are many useful options there and filling out the form is easy. Remember: a focused search is more likely to bring you the results that you're looking for.
Now that we have examined the basic rules of searching, it is time to take a look at another concept in searching: meta searching. Meta search engines search multiple search engines and subject directories simultaneously. Intrigued? Then let's move on to meta search engines. >>