Power Searching on the
Web: An 8-fold Path
Patricia F. Anderson
and
Karen Reiman-Sendi
(Enriching Scholarship 2007)
http://www.umich.edu/~pfa/pro/8fold/
Power Searching on the Web
Workshop Overview
Internet Searching vs. Library Resources
Basics of Internet Searching (8 tips)
Question/Answer
Internet Searching vs. Library
Resources
Many of the resources demonstrated have fee-
based equivalents, that have been paid for by the
University Libraries.
Think of the resources demonstrated both as useful
in their own right, but also as illustrations of a
resource type or discovery tool that might be useful
in other contexts.
Our discussion today begins with the Internet. Other
contexts might include, for example, print or peer-
reviewed research.
Power Searching on the Web: Tips
Quotation marks
OR
Parentheses
Limit by site
Limit by filetype
+ (plus sign)
- (minus sign)
~ (tilde sign)
Tip 1: Quotation marks
This is most useful when the words to be
searched are not very specific, have different
meanings in various subject areas, or when it
is important that the same word is repeated.
”string theory“
“global warming”
“head and neck cancers”
Tip 2: OR
Use this when you want any of the terms, not
all of the terms.
ibuprofen OR motrin OR advil OR nuprin
“illegal immigrants” OR “illegal aliens”
thermal OR fluid sciences
Tip 3: Parentheses
Useful to group terms that should be
processed together, at the same time and in
the same way in the search, but which you
want to combine with another concept.
(“sports drinks” OR gatorade) (erosion OR “tooth
decay”)
“string theory” (discussion OR blog OR forum OR
listserv)
“attention deficit disorder” (youth OR teens)
Tip 4: Limit by site
This is useful when you want to control the
quality of the search results, when you know a
site that is likely to have what you need, and
also when you want to find again a known
document.
(amoxil OR amoxicillin OR trimox) (site:fda.gov)
(motorcycle OR atv OR motorbike) “helm