Finding relevant info depends upon formulating precise queries and effective use of search tools. Poor queries return poor results, good queries return good results. Search results are only as good as the search methodology used. Below are some ways to structure search queries and special operators to make searching more efficient.

Search tools have drop down menus or other menu systems along with special query commands to help refine and control searches. Each search tool has a different name for search limiters/operators. Read the search tool "Help" page to find these. Below are some examples of operators used to refine searches. Some are identical to the aforementioned Boolean operators.

Used to match any search term. Some do this search type by using a menu on the main page or advanced search page. Most search tools list pages having all terms first, and then those with some of the terms.

Search for all terms. Most search tools support the + symbol to do an AND type search.

Most search tools allow excluding certain words. Use the NOT (-) command to narrow a search.

Many search tools allow title tag searches. If the Web page was titled "Slashdot", doing a title search for "Slashdot" will find this page since that word appears in the Html title tag. This strategy is useful when the page name is known but the Web address is not. It is also useful for finding pages devoted to a particular subject that name the subject in their page title tags.

Most search engines support a site search command allowing a particular site to be searched. This is usually found on the advanced search page. Try this when looking for something you know is on a particular Web site.

Being able to control which sites are included/excluded from a search is helpful. Use this if you know the information you are seeking is contained within a particular type domain.

For example, using AltaVista, to see all pages from appstate.edu, this command, host:appstate.edu, along with your query, will display all pages indexed from here containing your search terms.

Using AltaVista, to find pages from www.dilbert.com mentioning Catbert, do this: host:dilbert.com catbert. This lists pages with the word "catbert" within the Dilbert site.

 How site searches are handled depends on the search tool used. Check the "Advanced Search" or "Help" pages.

URL Search

Some search tools offer the ability to search URL text which searches the site address for specified terms. This is similar to a site search. Useful for finding sites focused on a particular subject.

Link Search

Some search tools offer a search for pages linked to a particular page or domain. This could be used when you know of a particular site and want to find similar sites. Sites often link to other similar sites.

Combine Search Strategies/Commands

Search commands/strategies can be combined to further refine a search. This means you can mix and match search strategies into a new type of search strategy.

For example, host:nasa.gov -"moon landing" tells AltaVista to list NASA pages that do not contain the phrase "moon landing".

 If looking for Mars landings in AltaVista, and if you want to eliminate NASA pages, do this: "mars landings" -host:nasa.gov. This looks for "mars landings" but excludes pages from sites that end in nasa.gov.

 To see Web pages about Mars landings from US educational sites, do this: "mars landings" +host:edu

Similar strategies can be taken with other search tools. The above examples should give you some ideas.

Additional Advanced Search Commands

Searches by media type, link text and other query types are possible. Explore the search tool "Help" page and advanced search forms to find these advanced options. These vary among the search tools.