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  Using Internet as a Research Tool

Topic 1 Introduction to Internet Resources

Categories    Subjects    Purpose    Search Facilities  Search Strategy

Search Engines Features

  • Boolean Operators
    • AND
      • Narrowing the search, include both phrases
      • You use “AND” when you find too many results and want to make your search more specific.
      • Some search engines uses “and”, others may use +.
      • Other search engines use words such as : must include, all the words, must contain.
    • OR
      • Expanding the search, include either of the phrases
      • You use “OR” when you find too little results, you may want to make your search more broad and you may combine synonyms.
      • Some search engines allow for “OR” searching but uses words such as “any of the words”, “some of the words”.
    • AND NOT
      • Restricting the search
      • You should use AND NOT when you want to exclude undesirable words or phrases and to make your search more specific especially when you have too many irrelevant results.
      • Some search engines use the lowercase “not”, or the “–” (minus) sign or BUT NOT.
      • Others may use words such as “without the words”, “must not contain”, “must not include”

  • Phrase Searching, “ “
    • e.g. “World War I” and “Global warming”

  • Use of parentheses, ( ), to force the order of the search
    • e.g. (“World War I”) and Japan

  • Advanced search
    • allows for the use of filters, e.g. language, date, domains (.edu, .gov, .com)

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