More useful search techniques
- Look for distinctive, specific words or phrases which apply to your search topic. This is the best way of narrowing the search to relevant sites. agoraphobia, english madrigals and peregrine falcon are examples.
- Remember synonyms and variant spellings. As much of the Internet content originates from the United States, it is particularly important to remember Americanisms eg: trunk instead of boot of a car; checking account instead of current account.
- When searching on names of individuals or organisations, put these in quotes so that they are a phrase - "Melvyn Bragg"; "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals"
- When searching for information on an organisation, especially commercial companies, using the organisation's name as a search term often does not lead to the organisation's own web-site but to other sites in which the company is mentioned. (This is a result of the ranking methods used by search engines.) You may be more successful by using the organisation's postcode and/or telephone number as search terms.
- Use nouns rather than verbs as search terms, wherever possible. The reason underlying this is that nouns are frequently more specific than verbs.
- If you are aware that one of your search terms is ambiguous, add additional terms which define the area in which you are interested. You will find that "michael jackson" "wine critic" uk leads to sites which are less likely to have a connection with the well-known pop singer.
That brings us to the end of this section. You can review any topic by using the menu at the left-hand side of the screen, or you can move on to the next topic:Reviewing search terms in the light of results ...
