Search More Accurately
We all spend a large portion of our day on the internet, looking for information. Thank goodness for search engines, or we would never find anything. However, we still spend six percent of our time on the internet searching. That may not seem like much, but it's 2.5 hours per week if you spend all day on the internet like I do. Here are some tips for searching more accurately.
1) Use Boolean search terms. They allow you to search more precisely by adding "AND," "NOT," and "OR," which enable you to include or exclude terms from your search. You can also use implied Boolean terms, i.e. (+) and (-) for even faster searches.
2) Use nesting when you don't know exactly what you're looking for. For example, if you're looking for John Smith, the used car salesman, but are not sure if he spells his name "John" or "Jon" or if he spells his last name "Smith" or "Smyth," you can search for "used car salesman" AND (Jon OR John AND Smith OR Smyth) instead of searching for each permutation separately.
3) Use wildcard terms in your searches. For example, if you want to find results that include the words "woman" or "women," you can search for "wom#n" and receive both. Search engines usually use the symbols "#," "*" or "?" as wildcard symbols.
4) Use the terms "NEAR" or "ADJ." These terms will help you find results in which the search terms appear close together.
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