Research Guides: Online Search Techniques (with Quiz): Search Tips

General Search Tips

Use advanced search whenever possible for more relevant results.
Check your spelling. Computers are literal. They do not associate meaning or see any connection between related items the way humans do.
Use synonyms, related terms or alternate spellings to expand your search.
Use the “Find” function (Crtl+F) of your browser to look up your search term in an article or a web page. This can help you quickly scan through the article/web page for relevancy. In Firefox and Internet Explorer, the Find function is listed under Edit; in Chrome, the Find function is hidden under the three dots at the top right.
Do not limit your search to a specific kind of search tool (such as Google), or a specific kind of source (such as journal articles). Keep an open mind and explore different search tools and sources.
Don’t forget that you can also use other libraries besides the Butte College Library, such as Butte County Library, Chico State University Library, and other online resources from other libraries (Digital Public Library of America, Open Library, Internet Archive, Library of Congress, etc.)

Each research database covers different areas; read the descriptions (under Databases A-Z list) and choose a database that is most related to your topic. Or you can ask a librarian for recommendation of appropriate databases for your research.
Use broader terms when searching for books (e.g. genetic engineering); use narrower terms for articles (e.g. genetically modified crops)
Use advanced search techniques and choose an appropriate search field for each search term. Choosing an inappropriate field may return irrelevant results or none at all.
Limit your search to only “Full-text”; check the “scholarly journal” or “peer-reviewed” box if you need an expert article. Specify the date range if you want to see articles within a certain period of time.
Pick up new subject terms or keywords from the search results and use them for new searches.
When you find a good scholarly article that meets your needs, check the bibliographies listed under that article for more related sources; some databases have the “Find Similar Articles” link that links you to more articles on that topic.
Be flexible; try different databases, and change your search strategy and search terms if you can’t find appropriate materials for your topic.
Explore and get familiar with the search features and tools of the databases. Don’t forget to use the embedded citation tools to generate the citation of the article you plan on using.

Use Advanced Search if you are not comfortable entering Boolean operators or specifying limits with obscure commands.
Most search engines have search tools listed on the side or at the top of the search results; use them to filter/limit the search results to a specify focus, type of sources, date range, etc. For example, in Google and Bing, you can filter search results by choosing the limiters or search tools at the top. In Ask.com, the right sidebar offers links to related search results.
Search terms are not case sensitive; most punctuations are ignored.
Here is a table that shows some search commands that you can use in Google, Bing, and Yahoo. This is for your reference only. Knowing these search capability can help you perform more refined searches. You don’t have to remember the exact commands when you use the advanced search page to specify your search.