Use
lower case
Truncation
Use
the Boolean operator "or"
Use lower case
If your aim is to find everything you possibly
can on your topic, use lower case, even for proper nouns. This will broaden
your search.
Truncation
Not sure which variant of a word is likely to produce the best search results?
Could it be computer or computers
or computing…or, better yet, all
of them?
If you only want to do one search, but don't know which variant of a word is best, use a word stem for all variations of the word, such as comput* to retrieve any of the following
| words: | computer | |
| computers | ||
| computing |
Always check the Help function to acquaint yourself with the attributes specific to each search utility you use. Some search engines may not support truncation while others will automatically finds plurals.
The Boolean operator "or"
When you ask for computer or
computing, you are asking for either word, which expands
your search to include more than just one of these keywords. For even wider
searches, you can use "or"
more than once. For example, "computer or
computing or PC or
workstation" would provide a very broad search.
Information Sources | Selecting the Best | Developing a Research Strategy | Subject & Keyword Searching | Narrowing Your Search | Expanding Your Search | Whys & Hows of Search Syntax | Search Syntax for Life | Glossary
Last updated: Tuesday, 20-Aug-2002 14:57:17 EDT