Searching the Web: Hints for Browsers

Information by State  Print version

Helpful Hints to Narrow Your Search

	Use lower case letters for a broad search: For example, a search for computers will list Web sites with computers, Computers, and COMPUTERS.
	Do not use a, an, or the: These words do not help narrow your search.
	Be specific. Use all significant terms in your search: For example, if you are looking for information about welfare reform, use these as your key words. Don't use just the word welfare or reform.
	Use quotation marks around a word or phrase when searching for an exact match: For example, a search by the word consult would return Web sites that include the word consult as well as the words consultant, consulting, consultation, etc. However, if you put quotation marks around "consult," only pages with that word in them will be returned.
	Use AND (always capitalized) to narrow your search: For example, searching for computer AND donation will find Web sites that contain both terms.
	Use OR (always capitalized) to broaden your search: For example, searching for training OR placement will find Web sites that contain either term.
	Narrow your search by putting terms in quotation marks: For example,searching for "computer recycling" will find only sites dealing with computer recycling, with the two terms appearing next to each other.

The same search without quotation marks would yield a much larger number of sites dealing with some aspect of computers and some aspect of recycling, but not necessarily computer recycling.

The following examples are just a few of the many types of search engines available on the internet. Try one for your next Web search:

Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com)
Google (http://www.google.com)
Hotbot (http://www.hotbot.com)
Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)
Webcrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com)
Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)

*Advanced search techniques among different Web search sites do vary. Please consult the "help" section of the individual search site that you are using. *Please note, all items above are examples of searches.