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Online Search Techniques (with Quiz): Advanced Search Techinques

Combining Keywords

Once you have identified appropriate keywords, you can combine the keywords to construct search strings to search more effectively. To combine keywords for a precise search, you can use  Boolean search, truncation, and phrase search techniques to narrow down, expand, or exclude search results.

Let's learn these techniques one by one.

Boolean Search

The most commonly used Boolean operators are: AND, OR, NOT (in all caps)

  • AND – both terms must be present. Example: depression AND suicide
  • OR – either term must be present. Example:  bias  OR  prejudice
  • NOT – exclude the term that follows NOT. Example:  immigrants NOT illegal

Watch the Boolean Search video below to learn how to use Boolean operators.

To sum it up, you can combine your search terms by using AND to narrow down your search, OR to expand your search, and NOT to exclude irrelevant search results.

Truncation

An asterisk mark * is often used as a truncation symbol to replace character(s) after the root of a keyword. This is a quick way to include plurals, tense variations and alternate spellings.

      Example: controvers* - searches for controversy, controversial, controversies

Watch the Truncation video below to learn how to truncate a keyword for searches.

Phrase Search

When some terms are used together, they create a unique concept. To search for that concept, use double quotations to search articles that contain the exact phrase.

    Example: use “great depression” to search for the phrase “great depression”.

Watch the Phrase Search video below to learn how to perform phrase searching.

Using Advanced Search Techniques in Web Search

Most of the above search techniques can be used in web searches. Different search engines may use different commands or symbols. For example, when using Google:

  • Use “  ”      (double quotations) to search for a phrase;
  • The Boolean operator AND is by default, so there is no need to add AND when you want all the search terms to be present in the search results.
  • Use OR for synonyms to expand your search;
  • Use - (minus sign) to exclude words you don’t want, e.g. desegregation –military
  • Truncation doesn’t work in Google and it doesn’t recognize the asterisk mark (*) as a truncation symbol.

You may not remember which commands or symbols to use for which search engine. If you are not sure which command to use, simply use the Advanced Search option to refine your search. Each search engine has its own unique advanced search features, but in general, you can apply Boolean logic, search by phrases, limit search results to a specific domain (e.g. government websites), file type, language, etc.