Super+Searching

=TODAY'S BIG QUESTION...are you using Google at full power?= Do you know how to use these? - Keywords, Boolean, Nesting No? - Then your not Googleing to the max!

1. Keywords 2. Boolean operators 3. Advanced operators
 * 3 things will improve any search you do:**

=**Keywords**= Keywords are what you put in to Google; if you have poor keywords - you get poor results. Keywords are also the expert vocabulary of your topic area; you should use them in your writing because they demonstrate that you understand the subject. //e.g. theory & hypothesis mean the same thing in English, but in Science they have 2 different meanings. How you use them in your writing and in Google will make a huge difference.//


 * //Expert advice -//** //f//or best results you should have at least 3 keywords...never search with one word!

**Expert advice -** take the time to write a list of keywords at the start of your research, it should take less than 5 minutes; keep it at the front of your folder, add important words as you go, highlight the words that get good search results, highlight words that you want to have high frequency in your writing. Start with your essay question: //e.g. Does the addition of ** e-learning ** systems improve the ** performance ** of students in ** mathematics ** ? //Then add any other words you think are important, e.g. online, digital, school, grades, maths.

1. First, do a search using 1 keyword; here's an example, e.g. //e-learning.// Are the results very useful? Do you get 12,000,000 hits, most of them rubbish? 2. Now, try searching with 3 words; here's my example, e.g. //e-learning, mathematics, research.// Are the results better? Less hits and higher quality? If the results don't improve then experiment by swapping words until you find a good mix, e.g. swap one of your keywords for a synonym, //e.g. swap e-learning for online learning.//
 * Activity**


 * The more words you have, the more precise your searches will be.**
 * But your words must be relevant, the more subject specific words you have the better your results.**

Next we'll look at Boolean operators. These tell Google what to do with your keywords.

=Boolean operators= Think about the perfect web page that has all the answers to your assignment question. What words **must** be on that page for sure? What words **might** be there? And what word defiantly **should not** be there?
 * There are 3 major Boolean Operators - AND, OR, NOT**


 * AND** - what words must be in your search? e.g. toy AND job
 * OR** - what words might be in your search? e.g. archaeology OR archaeology (UK & US spelling)
 * NOT** - what word should not be in your search? e.g. sports car NOT mazda

**What effect is each of these having on the results?** AND - reduces the results OR - increases results NOT - removes one word from the results

Most search engines are now using + and -. Most databases still use the older AND, NOT. Both still use OR.
 * Important note:**
 * So**, you'll need + and - for internet searching, and you'll need AND and NOT for databases (especially when you get to university).

Go to **Infoasis** and do //Module Two, 3a-Boolean//: **http://www.zu.ac.ae/infoasis/modules/mod2/9_boolean.htm**
 * Activity**
 * Stop at Truncation and return here.**

Now go to Google & try some Boolean with the Keywords that you listed above. Generally speaking if the hit rate is going down then the page quality is going up. A good search will usually return less than 1 million pages.
 * Activity**

If you don't have any Keywords, here's an example: 1. Search for **architecture** and write down the total number of pages found by Google (more pages = lower quality websites) 2. Search for **architecture +design** and write down the total number of pages found 3. Search for **architecture -design** and write the total number of pages found 4. Search for **architecture OR design** and write the total number of pages found 5. Search for **architecture +design +media** and write the total number of pages found 6. Search for **(architecture OR design) media** and write the total number of pages found

=Advanced Operators= Internet search engines and databases both use things called search **operators**. Luckily, they share some of these operators; so if you learn a few tricks now, you'll get better at searching on all types of search engine. **Note: most operators have a space before but not after the command, i.e. the attached to the word they are operating on.**

Add these operators to your //Keywords// and see what happens (write them as one word, no spaces). inurl:.edu (this operator tells Google that you only want educational sites - schools & universities) inurl:.gov (this operator tells Google that you only want governmental sites) inurl:.org (this operator tells Google that you only want non-profit organisations, e.g. the UN)
 * inurl:**
 * This is probably the #1 most powerful search trick you can learn; it tells Google to only search certain types of websites.**
 * Note: .edu, .gov and .org websites have more reliable info than .com (commercial) sites.**

Tells your search engine to treat a phrase like it's one word. e.g. "Mercedes Benz" or "interior design" This means you won't get //package design// or girls named //Mercedes// because the **results must have the whole phrase**.
 * "phrase search"**

Guesses what the word might be when you can't remember. e.g. Soccer * my life This might find any of these: Soccer is my life, Soccer ruined my life, Soccer dominates my life, Soccer runs my life, etc. Using the * tells Google to search for all possible combination Warning: other search engines use the * for suffixes e.g. magic*, finds magical, magics, magician. Using a root word plus a * tells a database to look for all the possible endings. (Google does this automatically, so they use it for whole words instead.)
 * Wild card * **

Searches for the word plus any synonyms Google can think of. e.g. ~inexpensive laptop This may return results for: cheap laptop, budget laptop, affordable laptop, low cost laptop. e.g. ~run This may return: run, runner, runners, running, etc Note: This is a good command if you're having trouble finding enough results.
 * ~ synonym symbol**

The 2 dots tells Google to search for numbers between a certain range e.g. nike shoes $200..$300 This returns results about nike shoes between these price ranges e.g. Russian revolution 1800..2000 Return results for any revolutions between these 2 dates (yes, there was more than one!)
 * .. dot-dot, number range**

Using brackets stops your search engine getting confused about advanced searches, especially when you're using Boolean. e.g. toy AND (designer OR maker OR inventor OR creator) This search string looks for webpages with **toy** and **any of the words in the brackets**. It instructs Google to combine all the nested commands first and then apply the commands outside the brackets after.
 * (nesting)**


 * Activity**
 * Try to solve some of these quizzes from Google:**
 * A-Google-a-Day**


 * Super searching takes practice but it will save you time if you learn it.**
 * Download this cheat sheet and put it next to you when you're doing a search: [[file:Boolean cheat sheet.pdf]]**

If you want more search operators, try the **GoogleGuide**, **http://www.googleguide.com/cheatsheet_teens.html** Or, here are **Yahoo's** advanced search tips: **http://help.yahoo.com/l/nz/yahooxtra/search/basics/basics-08.html**

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