Tutorials

View the following articles for hints and information on applying a variety of useful techniques that will help you to get more out of your research time online. Some articles, like The 10 Commandments of Online Research, are more basic, while others, like the Boolean Primer, are aimed at users who want to become search ninjas.

Boolean at a Glance

Boolean logic is used to construct search statements by use of a special syntax. The syntax is composed of operators (terms which have unique meanings), which are combined to form expressions (or queries). Boolean is a powerful tool: When you submit a query using Boolean syntax, you are speaking to the search engine in a language it can clearly understand.

Here’s a list of operators and syntax available for constructing Boolean expressions. If a search engine supports Boolean (and many do), it is likely to support all the items in the first table, below.

The Basics (most common)

operator meaning
AND BOTH words MUST appear in the document. This term imposes no restrictions on word order or word proximity.
AND NOT EXCLUDES documents containing ANY of the words FOLLOWING the connector. This term imposes no restrictions on word order or word proximity.
OR EITHER word MUST appear in the document. This term imposes no restrictions on word order or word proximity.
" " Creates a PHRASE wherein the combined words or terms MUST appear EXACTLY as written in the document.
* WILDCARD character used to replace ONE OR MORE characters in a word. You cannot use it for the first letter of a word.

 

More Advanced Terms (less common)

operator meaning
NEAR Similar to AND, only both terms have to be within a specified WORD DISTANCE from one another in order to be scored as a result.
AFTER Similar to NEAR, only the first (left-hand) term before this operator has to occur within a specified word distance AFTER the term on the right side of this operator in order for the source document to be scored as a result.
BEFORE Similar to NEAR, only the first (left-hand) term before this operator has to occur within a specified word distance BEFORE the term on the right side of this operator in order for the source document to be scored as a result.
( ) Just like in Mathematics, Nested Operators can be used to CHANGE THE PRIORITY in which the connectors operate.

Formulating Searches

Here's a set of straightforward principles and processes for formulating better searches and improving the quality of the results you see.

Step One - Analyze Your Topic

Begin by identifying logical keywords  -- key concepts -- for your search. Start Low Tech: Get out a piece of paper........

Ask yourself:

  • Who? 
  • What?
  • When?
  • Where?
  • How?
  • Why?

Other good questions to stimulate thought:

  • What specific word, phrases and/or names will occur in the documents I want?
  • Are there any unique names or terms of art?
  • Are there equivalent or interchangeable terms?
  • How might the author think?

If you are searching a Directory or a Gateway, ask "What’s my broadest subject?" as that is your starting point for a search through their topical indices

 

Step Two - Select Your Keywords

Follow these rules to choose the best keywords.

1.   Eliminate prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs and articles.

2.   Focus on nouns.

3.   Combine keywords into natural phrases.

4.   Use wildcards to pick up variations.

5.   Use synonyms via the Boolean OR operator.

6.   Choose 6 to 8 words total.

7.   Distinguish concepts with parentheses.

8.   Order concepts with main idea first.

9.   Join concepts with the Boolean AND operator.

10.  Watch out for case-sensitive search engines!

 

Step Three - Choose the Right Search Service

Ask:

1.    Do you really need a search engine?

2.    Do you need Boolean search capabilities?

3.    Would a specialized search service serve you best?

Once these questions have been answered, you can select the appropriate search services for your needs. If you are not sure where to begin, consider starting with a metasearch engine, like Dogpile.

And always - ALWAYS - search multiple search services. No one service covers all the Internet.

 

Step Four - Try Non-Web Resources

Remember, the Internet extends beyond the World Wide Web and there are other resources you should explore. Some of these now have Web interfaces (like Usenet on Google Groups) and can be reached with your browser. Others require a little more effort.

FTP

FTP should be great, but it isn't due to limitations on your ability to search for info.  Some Web sites are now accumulating FTP links in easier-to-use Web format. For example:

You can use FTP with no special software; just type the address in your browser's address window, using the "ftp:" prefix in the place of "http:", however, I suggest you try a dedicated piece of software, like WS FTP (shareware).  You can try it out for free by downloading a 30-day trial version at Download.com.

Mailing Lists

The simplest way to search the wide world of mailing lists is through the service known as Topica. The biggest limitation of the tool is that you only get a brief description of the list and contact info, which means you have to e-mail the list server for more info.  There is no "free peek" and no way to search the contents of the lists historical postings.

Newgroups (AKA Usenet)

You can use the newsgroups to track stories and follow "threads" of discussion on topics of interest.  it is a bit chatty, by and large, but can occasionally turn up something interesting.  The newsgroups can be read with a dedicated reader, or on the Web.  I like the Web-based versions at Google Groups.

R.I.P Gopher, Archie, Veronica, & Jughead...

How to Find Most Anything

A collection of quick guides to help you find what you are looking for.

Business Intelligence

Tip: It may seem obvious, but it's always a good idea to start with the company’s web site. When you get there, poke around a bit and take a look at what information they offer, but pay special attention to listings of new products and job openings. New products listings can indicate growth and the employment listings can give you some idea about what is going on with the firm. To gain meaningful insights it is most useful to visit the site regularly and track trends over time.

Tip: For preliminary information on a particular market, you might want to start your search by joining words or phrases that relate to the leaders in the market. For example, to search for comparative market information on servers, you would want to try joining “RedHat Enterprise” with “Windows server.”

Tip: Can’t find a company's Web Site?? Try Google first, and if that does not work, then try the Yahoo! directory and narrow your search to an appropriate directory category. Additionally, many of the major search engines include a section entitled “Company Profiles” (or words to that effect). Try restricting your search to these categories. Also try narrowing your search using the .com extension, which will restrict the search to commercial sites or try using the “domain” or “URL” search options when searching by company name. Don't forget that companies outside they U.S. may have elected to place their primary site on a country-specific domain, e.g., ".com.au" for Australia

Tip: If you are looking for information on manufacturing concerns, sites like Alibaba.com are very useful -- particularly for China-based manufacturing operations.

Launchpad's Picks

rating resource review
Nexis One of the best aggregations of business intelligence on the Net. It is a subscription service.
 Hoovers Online General business info & news.
Edgar Online Up-to-the-second corporate information directly from the Securities and Exchange Commission database of corporate filings.
 CFO News Corporate Financials Online lets you keep track of all the news announcements and investor information issued by public companies in one spot.

Tricks of the Trade - 5 Time Saving Hints

1. Database Directory

A search engine generally cannot find information located in a password-protected database, so you have to search them manually. To find out what database to look in, where it's located, or if it even exists, check out the Google Directory for a topical listing of databases on the Web.

2. List Hidden Files

Another way to find info not available on search engines is through the "robots.txt" file. The file is used by Web site programmers to tell search engines which directories in a website to ignore. Not all sites use Robots.txt files, but many do. The company will use the file to exclude materials they do not want to show up in search engine listings. From time to time this proves interesting. To find out if a website uses a robots.txt file and get a peek at the contents, type: www.<site name>.com/robots.txt

in your browser's Address line. This displays files and folders that hidden from the search engines.  If you see something that looks interesting, type the filename into the browser’s Address line to view the file.  If, on the other hand, you get an "Error 404: File Not Found" message, it simply means that site does not have a "robots.txt" file.

3. Save Now, View Later

Run a search. Save the first few returned pages of hits to your hard drive by choose the File menu and select "Save As" for each page of search results. Go through the list at your convenience.

4. Time Savings Through Consolidation

First, create a new folder on your hard drive. Then, perform your search and right-click on any links that look promising. Choose, "Save Link As" and save the link's destination page to your new folder. Now, you can review the pages offline if you like or use Windows Find (or any search tool) to perform full-text searches on all the pages in the folder, en masse.

5. Page Searching.

In both Netscape and IE you can search the contents of a page (or a complete document) very easily.  To do so, hit “ctrl” and “F” and a window will pop up.  Type a word or phrase in the window and hit “Find” and the active document in your window will be searched for occurrences of the term! This is great for the situations where you clicked on a link, but when you got to the page you wonder: how did I get here?  This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with what I was searching for.  When that happens, use this trick to locate your search terms on the page.