Course Modules:
Comprehensive
Web Search
Strategies
Search engines - advanced user interface
Your head is probably spinning as you try to make sense of those Boolean Operators, Quick Guides and Search Engine Help Files that you collected. You are not alone. Since most non-professional web researchers haven’t spent their careers learning the intricacies of Boolean logic and don’t spend their nights dreaming of the ultimate search string, search engine architects have begun adding interactive menus to their user interface that greatly simplify the use of Boolean operators.
On this pass through the search engines, you will use the Advanced Search interface that is usually located on another level behind the basic search engine user interface.
Note: Search Engines seem to be in a constant state of revision. If you don't immediately see a link to an "advanced" screen, read the search engine's help files to see if that feature is available.
As you examine the advanced search interface, you will see that the Boolean operators have been built into the "fill in the blanks" options, drop down menus and check boxes on the interface. In most cases you won’t even have to construct your own search string that contains the Boolean operators you want to use.
You can still enter a search string with the actual Boolean operators in some search engines. In most cases the results you get will not be fundamentally different than those you would get using the graphic user interface… but, if you are so inclined, give it a try.
Search Engines: Advanced Search
Continue adding comments and notes to your digital logbook. Add the webpages that this advanced searching locates to your bookmark list. You will quickly see that using Boolean operators will raise your web research to a higher plane.
Send me an email message describing which of the advanced web searching techniques seems to return the most usable "hits". You can also comment on which advanced search interface you found most useful. Title the message Advanced Search Techniques.
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