I. General tips
Searching
the WWW and other subscribed databases for relevant information requires
certain type of expertise. The kind of expertise needed may vary from one
search engine to other however; following preliminary searching hints will
definitely be of good help.
Choose a search engine, Database, directory or library in
accordance with the kind of search you are doing and the kind of results you
are seeking.
Consider: What exactly you looking for? General information that
might be available in public domain or Academic articles that might be
available in public domain as well as in subscribed databases.
Determine your aims: Do you want a specific hard-to-find
document on an esoteric subject, or general information on a broader topic? Do you
need to search the entire Web, or is what you are seeking likely to be found on
a number of sites, or only the most popular sites?
In making your choice, determine whether the information you are
looking for is likely to be in a page's title or first paragraph, or buried deeper
within the document or site. These you may be likely to define while making
advance search in subscribed databases.
Use a search engine's advanced features, if available, and read
the help files if you are unclear about its searching procedure.
I. Choosing Search Terms and Syntax
Enter synonyms, alternate spellings and alternate forms (e.g.
dance, dancing, and dances) for your search terms.
Enter all the singular or unique terms, which are likely to be
included in the document, or site you are seeking.
Avoid using very common terms (e.g. Internet, people),
which may lead to a preponderance of irrelevant search results.
Determine how your search engine uses capitals and plurals, and enter
capitalized or plural forms of your search words if appropriate.
Use a phrase or proper name if possible to narrow your search and
therefore retrieve more relevant results (unless you want a large number of
results).
Use multiple operators (e.g. AND, NOT) if a search engine allows
you to do so.
If you receive too many results, refine and improve your search.
(After perusing the results, you may become aware of how to use NOT - e.g.
Pay
attention to proper spacing and punctuation in your search syntax (i.e. no
space when using + means +term not + term)