STARquest II: The Internet and the World Wide Web
4. Effective Search Strategies
Why am I getting so many hits?
One way to help shape your search strategy using any web search tool is to use search commands.
Here are some basic commands which most search tools will recognize.
" " |
The double quotation marks mean that all words contained within will be searched as an exact phrase in the order you type them |
"distance learning" |
Retrieves pages which include distance learning as an exact phrase |
+ |
The plus sign means the word or phrase must be included in the search |
+electric +circuits |
Retrieves the words electric and circuits in every page. The words do not have to appear next to each other. |
- |
The minus sign means the word must not be included in the search |
+python -monty |
Retrieves pages which include the word python but not monty |