Web Search Strategies

- Determine what kind of web search tool to use: subject directory, search engine, or meta-search engine. Which one you choose will depend on what your topic is.

Uncommon Topic? Pick a search engine or meta-search engine

Broad Topic? Pick a subject directory

Really Specific Topic? Pick a search engine, or possibly a meta-search engine

Doing Academic Research? Start with a subject directory

- Choose appropriate search terms; if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you may need to change your search terms and use related terms or synonyms. Also, the more words you type in, the fewer results you’ll get, so focus your search as much as you can, especially if you’re using a search engine. For example, instead of doing a search in Google on cats, try a search on cats and diabetes instead.

- Use advanced search strategies as appropriate

Most search engines have Advanced Search options that allow you to be more specific about the kind of web pages you find. We’ll take a look at Google’s advanced search options as an example, but other search engines will have similar features. You may not necessarily need or want to use every single one of these advanced search options in each search you do, but it is useful to have a few tricks up your sleeve so that you get better, more relevant results.

For example, try a search on the Chesapeake Bay in Google.

This gets us millions of results. So let’s start using some advanced search features to narrow things down a bit.

First, let’s put quotation marks around Chesapeake Bay. Use quotation marks to tell Google that Chesapeake Bay is a phrase – that you only want websites where these two words are right next to each other. Other examples of phrases include, global warming, chicken pox, capital punishment, and poison ivy.

That gets us fewer results, but there are still too many web pages to look through. Let’s tell Google we only want websites where Chesapeake Bay is in the TITLE of the webpage – this way we’ll be sure the entire page is actually on that topic. Type intitle: (no space!) in front of your search terms.

This is looking better.

But we can do even more on the Advanced Search page. Here we can tell Google that we only want results from certain DOMAINS, such as .gov, .edu, .com, or .org. The results are even more focused.

When you use a search engine, take a look at the advanced search features it provides, and also take a look at the Help pages to make sure you’re using all the power that a particular search tool is capable of providing. Also, remember that most subject directories and meta-search engines do NOT provide this range of advanced search features, so if you need to use advanced search options, make sure you’re using a search engine.

- Think about what organization or what kind of website might have the information you need.

For example, if you need statistics on how much it costs to house a prisoner, you could check the U.S. Department of Justice web site. Or, if you need information about malaria programs in Africa, you could check the World Health Organization’s website – they provide a great deal of information about health issues worldwide.

Information on some sites is sometimes several layers down, so it can often take a bit of persistence to find what you’re looking for. See if the site provides a way to Search. Alternatively, use an advanced search technique, and search for your terms in just this one site.

Not sure which organizations’ websites to try? Articles from encyclopedias sometimes list key organizations in certain fields. Books and periodical articles are also great places to find names of relevant organizations. Also, if you’ve come across a few useful webpages on your topic, check to see if they have a list of links or references to other organizations.

- Use more than one search engine or directory, since no one search tool covers ALL the web.