Google is the most popular and sophisticated search engine. It employs mathematical algorithms to ensure that the most relevant sites are listed first.

Some tips for using Google:

• use quotation marks around a phrase to search those words together
• if you enter more than one word, your results will include records with all of the word, but not necessarily near each other -- this is similar to typing AND
• you may use OR to search synonyms
• you may use the plus (+) symbol before the key word in the search box to be sure the word is included in every site; a minus (-) sign will exclude it (e.g., "Virginia Henderson" +nursing)
• Google uses automatic truncation -- enter a word, and results will include variants of that word
• you may limit by domain extension, date, language
• Google is not case-sensitive, but you may use capital letters for names and other appropriately capitalized words

All search engines are different. Use the HELP features of each one for the best results.

Google's advice: Keep it simple!

Remember that even though the Internet has some valuable information in the form of electronic journals, government reports, data from educational and research sites, you need to be very careful to evaluate the Web sites you find.

Watch this video of an advanced search using Google.