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Search Engines Cheat Sheet by

A helpful guide to Web Search Engines

Standard Search Engines

Crawler based
crawls Web pages to build lists of words that are then indexed and stored into a searchable database
Examples
Google, Bing, Yandex

Purpose of a search engine

For the same reason you need a card catalogue in a library, people use a search engine when browsing the Web. There is a lot of great and useful inform­ation but when it is not physically possible to examine all sources person­ally, a search engine assists the resesa­rcher in sifting through the near endless and constantly changing inform­ation on the Web.

Search Engine Features

Refinement support
ability to use Boolean, Phrase, and Field searching
Wild Card (Truncation) suport
ability to subsitute part of a word or a whole word with the " * "
Stemming support
ability to find variants of terms such as, tense, plural & singular form
Size of database
how large the search engine's database is
feel and *look
unclut­tered and easy to use interface
These are only a few features of search engines.

Custom­ization

Search Filters
filter out inappr­opirate content
Number of results
how many dispayed per page (SERP)
Instant search
predic­ations while you type
Where results open
new tab? same tab? new window?
Language
ability to translate
Your search engine may have many other custom­ization options, however, these seem to be standard among the majority.

Math Calcul­ati­on/­Con­version support

+
addition, 978+456
-
subtra­ction, 978-456
*
multip­lic­ation, 978*456
/
division, 978/456
convert
convert 2 miles to inches
^
raise to a power of, 237^3
 

Phrase your query

Check your keywords
put more important terms in the begining
Forget about case
use all lower case (excluding Boolean operators)
Avoid stop words
common stop words include: a, are, as, be, for, has, that, will, was, to, is, it...
Use refine­ments alone or in combin­ation with others
Boolean operators, Phrase searching, Field searching

Advanced Search Features

term1 AND term2
returns results that include both query terms
term1 OR term2
returns results that include either of two query terms
+ term
results must INCLUDE the term
- term
results must EXCLUDE the term
" this is a phrase "
returns results that include the exact phrase
inurl: term
returns results that include the term in the Web page URL
filetype: document extension (pdf, doc)
returns results that are only the specified document type

Instant Answers

Get a map
map portland or
Get local weather forcast
weather 71115
Define a term
define onamonapia
Get movie showtimes
showtimes 71111
Find area gas prices
gas 71047
Learn sports scores
packers scores
See current market data for a given company or fund
enter stock ticker, e.g. goog (for Google)
See he time in many cities around the world
time london
Find precise times of sunrises and sunsets
sunrise new york
Not all search engines support instant answers or the same ones.
 

MetaSearch Engines

Search tool
sends user request to other search engines then displays the results in a single list
Examples
DogPile, MetaCr­awler, Mamma

Sites to explore

Search­Eng­ine­Wat­ch.com
provides tips and inform­ation about searching the web and analysis of the search engine industry
MalekT­ips.com
search engine syntax, advanced search engine features, filtering results
TheFil­ter­Bub­ble.com
website and blog about filter bubbling, what search engines are hiding from you
Search­Eng­ine­Col­oss­us.com
intern­ational directory of search engines across 314 countries, since 1998
Search­Eng­ine­Lan­d.com
news and inform­ation site covering search engine marketing, searching issues and the search engine industry
Linked­In.com
connect with industry profes­sionals to learn about and discuss topics

DeeperNet

Facebook
Facebo­ok.c­om­/De­eperNet
Twitter
@deepe­rnetorg
Our Site
NEW LinkedIn group
Discuss Internet Research, Security, News http:/­/li­nkd.in­/17­lIidL
Amanda Deason
Internet Resear­cher, DeeperNet
Instru­ctor, LSUS-CE
P: (318) 995-4868
E: adeaso­n@d­eep­ern­et.org

DeeperNet classes at LSUS-CE

Advanced Power Searching with Google
Gain a deep unders­tanding of complex Google searches to become better at Internet Research.
Internet Research Optimi­zation
Focus on strategies of online research to effect­ively and econom­ically access specific inform­ation from the Web.
Register for classes at ce.lsu­s.edu
                   
 

Comments

thanks! been looking for a sheet like this.

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