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This month’s info sheet will provide more helpful hints on
conducting targeted searches on your favourite search engines.
If you missed the first installment last month please email
me at david@smartype.com.au
or visit our website www.smartype.com.au
and select ‘Get Info’ from the main menu then ‘Info Sheets’
for a full list of past editions.
Phrase
Some engines treat two words together like Rugby Union
as Rugby or Union returning results on each
unique word. Also, some engines drop common words or one-letter
words within phrases so a search for the phrase vitamin
A becomes equivalent to searching for vitamin and
a search for New Orleans becomes Orleans. For
these reasons it is better to use the following techniques
when looking for a phrase or words that have a unique meaning
when linked:
- “Queensland Reds”
- Queensland FOLLOWED BY Reds
- (Queensland Reds)
Case Sensitive
Most engines do not recognise capital letters:
- AIDS and aids (the disease and the verb) are treated identically
Natural Language
When it is hard for you to design your search precisely,
some engines allow you to ask for information as if you were
thinking aloud e.g www.askjeeves.com
- I want to buy tickets for the Gold Coast Indy 2002
is treated as buy AND tickets AND gold AND coast AND indy
AND 2002.
Domain Restrict
If you know the website you want to search but aren't sure
where the information is located within that site, you can
use Google and similar engines to search only that domain.
Do this by entering what you're looking for followed by the
word “site” and a colon followed by the domain name.
For example, to find ticketing information available on the
Indy site enter:
Next month: Part 2 - Performing Precise Searches
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