{"id":436,"date":"2021-03-30T17:48:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T17:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomp2\/?post_type=chapter&p=436"},"modified":"2022-07-25T19:31:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T19:31:21","slug":"advanced-searching-techniques","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-englishcomp2\/chapter\/advanced-searching-techniques\/","title":{"raw":"Advanced Searching Techniques","rendered":"Advanced Searching Techniques"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nUse advanced searching techniques like search phrases and Boolean operators\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Search Statements<\/h2>\r\nAt this point in your search process, you are moving from merely identifying main concepts and similar search\u00a0terms<\/em>\u00a0to developing more complicated search\u00a0statements<\/em>\u00a0that can do more precise searching.\r\n\r\n
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Use Quotation Marks for Phrases<\/h3>\r\nPut quotation marks around any phrases among your terms so that the phrase is what\u2019s searched for, rather than the separate words. \u201cCommon cold\u201d instead of common cold is a good example. Without those quotation marks, just think how many sources Google or other search tools would waste their\/your time on things that have nothing to do with our sniffles.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"<\/strong><\/span>common cold\"<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"arrow<\/td>\r\ncommon<\/strong> cold<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
common cold<\/td>\r\n\"arrow<\/td>\r\ncommon<\/strong> cold<\/strong>, cold<\/strong> weather is common<\/strong>, cold<\/strong> war common<\/strong> tactics, etc.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

Use Wildcard and Truncation Symbols to Broaden<\/h3>\r\nConsider whether using wild card or truncating symbols would help find variations of a word. For instance, the wildcard symbol in wom?n finds both woman and women, and the truncating symbol in mathematic* finds mathematics, mathematically, mathematician, etc.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
wom?<\/strong><\/span>n<\/td>\r\n\"arrow<\/td>\r\nwoma<\/strong><\/span>n and wome<\/strong><\/span>n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
mathematic*<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"arrow<\/td>\r\nmathematician<\/span>,\u00a0<\/strong>mathematics<\/strong><\/span>, etc.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nhttps:\/\/guides.osu.edu\/ld.php?content_id=41925854\r\n

Boolean Operators<\/strong>\u00a0AND, OR, NOT<\/h2>\r\nNamed after the mathematician, George Boole, Boolean operators<\/strong> are used as conjunctions that combine or exclude certain keywords in your search. Though Boolean operators are used in logic, mathematics, and computer science, there are three common Boolean operators used by search engines (e.g., library catalogs, academic databases, and some online search engines): AND, OR, and NOT. Think of Boolean operators as instructions that tell a search engine what to do with your keywords. Some search tools need Boolean operators to be typed in all capital letters in order for them to work, so it is a good idea to always type them in all caps whenever you are using them.\r\n\r\n\"alt="Venn\r\n\r\nAND<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 If the main idea contains two or more ideas, you\u2019ll want to use AND to combine those terms in your search statement. To look for information about spiders as signs of climate change, you\u2019ll want to have both terms in the search and perform an AND search. That\u2019s what automatically happens in search engines such as Google and Bing unless you tell them to do something different by using OR,NOT, or-.\r\n\r\nOR<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 If the main idea has several synonyms, use OR to combine them. Most search tools search for all terms (AND) by default, so you need to use the operator OR between terms to let them know you want to find any of the terms not documents with all the terms. For instance, in the previous example of Latino small business growth, we would want to also use the term Hispanic.\r\n\r\nNOT<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 If the main idea has a common use you want to exclude, use NOT to exclude that word. For example, if we were looking for information about illegal drug use we would want to exclude prescription drugs from the search results. This is commonly done with NOT or the use of the minus (-) sign. In Google, to exclude a word use-word with no space between the \u2013 and the word you want to exclude. If you put a space in there, Google will not exclude the word.(When using some search tools, you have to use AND NOT before the word to exclude it.)\r\n\r\n
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Using Parentheses with Multiple Operators<\/h3>\r\nWhen a search requires multiple Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, or their symbols), you must use parentheses to group the appropriate terms and quotation marks with each Boolean operator. The resulting statements connect terms, remove terms, and organize search terms in ways that result in complex and precise searching.\r\n\r\nThe use of parentheses may remind you of the mathematical statements written in math courses. The reason parentheses are necessary in searching is that search tools, including Google, generally perform their operations from the left to right of a search statement. If you are using multiple Boolean operators, then the way to make sure that the search is done as a whole statement requires that you use parentheses to combine the sets in your statement.\r\n\r\nNever use parentheses unless you are using multiple Boolean operators.\r\n

(<\/strong><\/span>cat or dog)<\/strong><\/span> and (<\/strong><\/span>\"white house\" and president)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\nBeing skillful at this task of envisioning the effects Boolean operators have on a search can help you troubleshoot your own search statements when they aren\u2019t turning up what you expected.\r\n

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EXAMPLE:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cUnited States\u201d AND (immigration or emigration)<\/h4>\r\nCan you tell that the searcher wants to find information about the United States\u2019 immigration or emigration?\r\n\r\nThe searcher will find more with this arrangement than would turn up if the statement had been \u201cUnited States\u201d immigration emigration. That\u2019s because the latter arrangement without parentheses would find only information that was about both United States immigration and emigration, instead of either.\r\n

EXAMPLE:<\/strong>\u00a0(cats OR dogs) AND (treatment OR therapy)<\/h4>\r\nCan you tell that the searcher wants to find information about either treatment or therapy for either cats or dogs?\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s a different search from what the searcher would have gotten if this statement had been used: cats dogs treatment therapy. Anything found with the latter statement without parentheses would have had to be about both\u2014 not just either\u2014therapy and treatment for both\u2014not just either\u2014cats and dogs. So the latter statement would have turned up fewer pieces of information.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/Ed7EswsnEbM\r\n
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Tips for Common Search Tools<\/h3>\r\n

Google<\/a><\/h4>\r\n