Getting the Information You Need...Faster

Simple Search Tips

• When typing keywords into a search engine, only capitalize words that would normally be written in capitals, like people and places.
• Use descriptive and correctly spelled words.
• If the sites you need do not come up on the first page of the search results, refine your query.
• When you follow a link to a page but are unable to locate your keywords on that page, press CTRL + F to use the "Find" function.
• Use a graphic-free search engine (e.g. www.Google.com) to load search pages faster and avoid advertisements.

Advanced Search Tips

• Use Boolean Logic to narrow the focus of your search.
  • "apples and blossoms" advises the search engine that both words need to be included in the search results.
  • "apples or oranges" indicates one, or the other, or both are to be in the search results.
  • "apples not blossoms" indicates only the word apples is to be in the search results, not blossoms.
• Apply operator tools to help narrow your search when you are looking for specialized or difficult to find pages.
  • Use double quotation marks (" ") around words you anticipate seeing together, or to search for a famous quote or a person.
  • A plus sign (+) between words advises the search engine all words must be included in the results.
  • A minus sign or hyphen (-) placed between words informs the search engine that you would like to exclude those words from your search.
  • By typing "link:" followed by a subject word, pages with the subject in the hyperlink will appear in the results.
  • When inputting "URL:" followed by a subject, URLs with the subject word will appear.
  • When typing in "title:" followed by your subject, all pages with your subject word in the title will appear.
  • By typing in "alt:" followed by your subject, pages with your subject image(s) will appear.