Here are some basic tips to help you maximize the effectiveness of your search:
| Choosing search terms |
Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need.
Start with the obvious – if you're looking for general information on Hughie, try Hughie.
But it's often advisable to use multiple search terms; if you're researching past productions of Hughie, you'll do better with production Hughie than with either production or Hughie by themselves. And production Hughie Robards may produce even better (or, depending on your perspective, worse) results.
You might also ask yourself if your search terms are sufficiently specific. It's better to search on production Hughie Robards than on production play actor. But choose your search terms carefully; Google looks for the search terms you chose, so production Hughie Robards will probably deliver better results than productions of a play with a desk clerk.
| Capitalization |
Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for eugene o'neill, Eugene O'Neill, and eUgEnE O'nEiLl will all return the same results.
| Automatic "and" queries |
By default, Google only returns pages that include all of your search terms. There is no need to include "and" between terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed will affect the search results. To restrict a search further, just include more terms. For example, to find productions of Hughie, simply type production Hughie.
| Automatic exclusion of common words |
Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results. Google will indicate if a common word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box.
If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)
Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.
| Word variations (stemming) |
Google now uses stemming technology. Thus, when appropriate, it will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms. If you search for pet lemur dietary needs, Google will also search for pet lemur diet needs, and other related variations of your terms. Any variants of your terms that were searched for will be highlighted in the snippet of text accompanying each result.
| Phrase searches |
Sometimes you'll only want results that include an exact phrase. In this case, simply put quotation marks around your search terms.
Phrase searches are particularly effective if you're searching for proper names ("Eugene O'Neill"), titles ("Long Day's Journey Into Night"), or other phrases ("first signed editions").
| Negative terms |
If you wish to exclude terms from your search, you can focus your search by putting a minus sign ("-") in front of words you want to avoid. A search for production Hughie -Robards would return productions of Hughie without Jason Robards.
Note: when you include a negative term in your
search, be sure to include a space before the minus
sign.