By spending a few minutes clarifying your search, you can increase your chances of finding
what you need fast and effectively.
NOTE: If you haven't done so already,
please review the previous "Search Engines"
section before proceeding.
STEP 1:
STATE WHAT YOU WANT TO FIND
First, in one or two sentences, state what you want to find on the
Internet. For example:
I want to find information on popular
methods of losing weight.
What are the characteristics to look for when purchasing a diamond?
When do the Monarch butterflies migrate?
STEP 2: IDENTIFY KEYWORDS
Next, underline the main concepts in the statement.
I want to find information on popular
methods of losing weight.
What are the characteristics to look for when purchasing a diamond?
When do the Monarch butterflies migrate?
STEP 3: SELECT SYNONYMS
AND VARIANT WORD FORMS
List synonyms, alternate spellings, and variant word forms of each keyword.
popular common
favorite
methods method ways way
techniques technique
losing lose reducing
reduce reduction
weight fat dieting diet
STEP 4: COMBINE SYNONYMS,
KEYWORDS, AND VARIANT WORD FORMS
Combine synonyms with Boolean OR.
NOTE: Place parentheses around OR statements.
(popular or common or favorite)
(methods or method or ways or way or techniques or technique)
(losing or lose or reducing or reduce or reduction)
(weight or fat or dieting or diet)
Use truncation with an asterisk symbol (*) to combine variant word forms.
(popular or common or favorite)
(method* or way* or technique*)
(los* or reduc*)
(weight or fat or diet*)
Combine keywords with Boolean AND.
(popular or common or favorite) and
(method* or way* or technique*) and
(los* or reduc*) and
(weight or fat or diet*)
STEP 5: CHECK YOUR SPELLING
Search engines return websites with words that match your keywords.
If you misspell a keyword, your results will contain websites where
that word is also misspelled.
 
Next Topic
Copyright © 1999, 2000 by Debbie Flanagan,
Fort Lauderdale, FL.
All rights reserved.
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