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Kathie O'Dowd, MLIS

PANNING FOR GOLD: Tips ‘N’ Tricks for Searching Online – Part 2

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Searching the internet can be overwhelming, especially when you are already dealing with so much. It’s a good idea to use effective search techniques and define the scope of your research to ensure that you are spending time only reading meaningful content. The tips below will make you a more educated patient and help you make the most of the limited in-person time you have with your health care providers.


Effective Search Techniques

The librarian’s best friend is the quotation mark. Use this handy keystroke to significantly filter out unimportant content. Quotes will tell your search engine, email application, shopping site and more to only return results with the exact phrase within the quotes.


Search engine hits for:

lymphatic cording: 29,100,000

lymphatic cording: 8,560


 

AND | OR | NOT

To further refine your results set, layer your searches by using Boolean search operators: AND, OR and NOT.


PLEASE NOTE: Be sure to use capital letters (AND, OR, NOT) as some applications may not recognize your intention.


 
AND: This operator will further narrow your results set by layering topics together.

           

For example, search results for:


lymphatic cording and acupuncture: 768,000 results

lymphatic cording AND acupuncture: 168 results



 
OR: Use this operator to cast a wider net when you are struggling to find content. Especially useful for synonyms and acronyms.

For example, search for:

“Lymphatic Cording” OR “AWS” OR “Axillary Web Syndrome”



 
NOT: This operator is handy and can help remove unimportant criteria from your results set.

For example, search for:

“AIDS” NOT “Hearing Aids”



 

Most scientific databases will also offer additional tips on how to maximize your effectiveness using the advanced search tool or the Help section.

Take the time to learn these few operators, and you will spend significantly less time searching and more time reading.

Good luck searching and happy reading!

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