1. INTERNET SEARCHING GUIDEBY

2. What is the internet?

3. What is a search engine?

4. Use advanced search options in search engines including:
Exact phrases
Boolean searches – AND, OR, NOT
Multiple Words
Find meanings
Site Specific
Numerical ranges
Truncation
Conversions
Link pages

5. Exact Phrase - use quotation marks “ “
Use double quotation marks to enclose a phrase, e.g. “Pirates of the Caribeann”.
This will limit your results, because you will only retrieve items where the words are next to each other.
Example:

6. Excluded Words (Not, or use – sign)
Limit your search by using a minus sign (-) to exclude a word, name or phrase. Place the sign directly before the keyword or phrase you want to exclude without leaving a space.
The search engine will return pages that do not feature the specified word, name or phrase, e.g. “pop art” -warhol.
Example:

7. Multiple Words - OR Example:
Broaden your search by using OR (in capital letters) to find related words or alternative spellings, Eg: ireland OR eire.
Example:

8. Find meanings define: Example:
Will define your word or phrase. For example, if your wanted to find the meaning of sustainability, you would type in:
define: Sustainability
Example:

9. Site Specific site: Example:
If you want to find information from selected websites eg sch, co, edu, etc
Type in your search words Recycling site:edu
Example:

10. Numerical Ranges ... (use 3 full stops)
Searches for a range of dates or numbers. If you wanted to find out about WWI it will bring you up results during that period.
Example:

11. Truncation *
If you want to broaden your search, use a root part of the word and abbreviate it with an asterisk (garden*). The engine will return links to documents containing gardens, garden, gardener, gardeners, and so on.
Example:

12. Example: Linked pages link:
Searches web pages linked to your chosen site. Eg.
Link:BBC Apprentice
Example:

13. Conversions inches to cm
Type in your search criteria eg 20 inches in cm. Can convert different measures.
Example:

14. Things to remember
There is no right or wrong way to carry out an internet search.
Experiment by adding and taking away words and trying the different techniques.
Keep an eye on the number of hits so that you can see whether you are getting more or less information, and assess the relevance of the hits at the top of your list.
Know when to stop searching. Setting yourself a time limit is sometimes a good idea if you are pressed for time.