Quick Reference: Search Engines

Frustrated by a lack of relevant search results?

If your search doesn't return results, it's (normally) because you are searching:

• With problematic terms
• In the wrong place
• For something that doesn't exist

If you are not getting back enough results:

• Work with your search terms
  • Is everything spelled correctly?
  • Is there an alternative term that would work (examples: automobile instead of car or middle school instead of junior high)
  • Select terms that are more broad (example: Midwest instead of Indiana).  
  • If you had multiple search terms, try reducing the number of terms. If you had been connecting terms with AND, try using OR instead.
  • Try using a truncation symbol to give the search flexibility
• Remove search limiters
• Make sure you are searching in a appropriate place
  • Use the About or Help feature to learn more about the database. Make sure the subject and coverage are appropriate for your search.
  • Try searching in a large, multidisciplinary database like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, or Google Scholar.
• Take a break and try again later. 
• If you are still struggling, ask a librarian!  

Frustration (was: threesixtyfive I day 244) by Sybren Stuvel. Used underCC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Combining search terms with AND will:

• Reduce the number of results
• Make the search focus more specifically on your topic

Combining search terms with OR will:

• Expand your search and increase number of results
• Give your search flexibility to find alternate terms

Search for film  = 601,786 results

Combining search terms with NOT will:

• Decrease your search results
• Increase the relevancy of your results by telling the search to exclude certain terms

Search for "Hunger Games"  = 745 results 

Search engines attempt to match your terms to the items it searches (titles, authors, abstracts, description fields, full text, etc).

However, search engines do NOT understand phrases, sentences, or questions. So when it does this matching, it searches for each term indivdiually. Some searches attempt to find terms in proximity to each other, but this varies depending on where you search.

If your search terms are more than single worlds, employ quotation marks to show the search engine that you want the terms to be found together. The search will look for exactly what you place in the quotation marks, so be sure there are no mistakes.

Search for Adam Smith = 38,700,000 results

Search for "Adam Smith" = 2,730,000 results

Search for theory of relativity = 3,430,000 results

Search for "theory of relativity" = 856,000 results