This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
AND Searches
Searching for two or more keywords—both of which must appear in the results—is an excellent strategy for performing precise searches and greatly reducing the number of search results you have to consider. Some search engines offer more than one method for performing AND searches, so you can choose the one you like best.
The most common way to tell a search engine that you want an AND search is to put a plus sign in front of each word or phrase that must appear in the results: +Renaissance +sculpture.
Other search engines require that you actually use the Boolean operator AND to combine words or phrases: needlepoint AND supplies, for example, to look for references to both terms. You may even be required to use full caps for AND. To avoid having to remember whether or not full caps are necessary, you should get into the habit of using full caps all the time for AND.
Some search engines make AND searching extremely easy by offering it as a menu option. You simply type two or more unique keywords or phrases and then choose All the Words from a drop-down menu ( Figure 3.3 ) or enter your search words in a field with a similar label ( Figure 3.4 ).
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Figure 3.3 You can sometimes perform AND searches simply by choosing All the Words from a menu like this one.
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Figure 3.4 Some search engines have an All of These Words field that you can use for an AND search.
Tips
- Some search engines default to an AND search, and others default to an OR search. HotBot, for example, assumes that you want an AND search unless you tell it differently. AltaVista, on the other hand, defaults to OR searching.
- Whenever you perform an AND search, you should put the most specific search term first, because some search engines pay attention to word order and factor it into their relevancy rankings.