Pandia's 17 recommendations for Net searching

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1. If you have a clear idea of what you are looking for, use a search engine first. If you are looking for general information on a broader topic start with a search directory.

2. Use nouns and objects as query words. So-called "stop words" -- common verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions like "and, in, or, of" are often ignored by search engines or too variable to be useful (unless they are part of a phrase). Some search engines will let you search stop-words if you put them in quotes or enter a +-sign immediately before them.

3. Be as specific as possible. If you are looking for information on Golden Retrievers, do not search for dogs in general. Avoid common terms like Internet or people, unless they are a part of a phrase.

4. If you do not find what you are looking for, search for synonyms. Use the OR-operator: (dogs OR canines).

5. Check your spelling! Then check it again...

6. Be aware of alternate spellings or alternative words in various forms of English: (colour OR color), (luggage OR baggage)

7. Use at least two keywords in a query. More keywords will give you a smaller and more focused list of hits.

8. Use phrases enclosed by quotation marks in order to reduce the number of results: "may the force be with you".

9. Use the AND or plus operator in order to reduce the number of hits: "may the force be with you" AND "Star Wars" or alternatively +"may the force be with you" +"Star Wars"

10. Normally use quotation marks and capitals when searching for names: "Bill Clinton". There may be several variations of the same name, though: "Bill Clinton" OR "William Clinton" OR "William J. Clinton" OR "William Jefferson Clinton".

11. Consider truncating words in order to find both singular and plural versions of nouns: watch*

12. Put the main subject first. Search engines often list the pages that match the first keyword at the top of their list of findings. If you want to make certain that the phrases to the left are given priority, you can try putting them in parentheses: ("searching the web") AND (tutorial* OR manual*)

13. State to yourself what you want to find. You might find it useful to write it down on a piece of paper in normal language. Pick out the keywords and use them (and relevant synonyms) in your search query. The question "I want to find information about Canadians taking part in the invasion of Normandy on the D-day of World War II" may give the following query: D-day AND (Canadian* OR Canada) AND Normandy AND ("world war II" OR "second world war")

14. Do not make your queries too complicated. Avoid complex nesting with too many brackets.

15. Consider using field searching to get more relevant hits. Search for instance for words in the titles of webpages: title:"gardening".

16. Use several search services. Not one of them covers more than a part of the Net.

17. Read the help pages (or use the Pandia Q-cards in order to learn the search rules applied by the search service you are using. Admittedly the basic rules are the same, but the variations will affect the results of your query.

That's it! You are an expert! Now you can go to our Powersearch page and start searching!

However, if you want to learn even more about Internet searching, there are other Internet search tutorials. Here at Pandia you may want to read Special Guest Writer Daniel Bazac's thorough introduction to Web searching, his tips on how to formulate search queries, narrow searches, evaluate sources and much, much more.

If you want to learn how to improve the rankings of your own Web pages, visit the Pandia Search Engine Marketing 101 tutorial.

In the Pandia Bookstore you will find books that teach you how to search the Net more efficiently.