Friday, May 17, 2013

Perform A Keyword Search

Perform a keyword search to find what you seek.


Keyword searches are used to locate material that contains the same words or phrases within the content of a material's text as specified in your search query. In addition to author searches, title searches, subject searches, and catalog number searches, library systems are also set up to perform title keyword searches. You can also perform a keyword search of the documents saved on your computer. Perhaps the most notable type of keyword search is carried out by Internet search engines.


Instructions


1. Go to your preferred search engine website. Some possible options are Google, Yahoo or Bing.


2. Think about the information you want to know. Select descriptive words or phrases and be specific. For instance, let's say you're looking for information about Spain. Spain is a very broad subject. Think about what exactly it is you want to know about Spain, such as cheap flights to Spain; historic sites in Spain; popular music in Spain; fashion trends in Spain; or Spanish architecture. Use words that you would expect to find in material about this information.


3. Use quotation marks around phrases where you are more likely to find what you're looking for if the words appear together, such as "sound waves" or "candy bar." The quotation marks ensure that only online material that contains text with this exact phrase will be listed in your search results. Without the quotation marks, your search results may contain material where the word "candy" and the word "bar," for example, are in the material but do not appear together as a phrase.


4. Add the term OR (with capital letters) between words or phrases where finding either term in the text content is acceptable. For instance, "earth OR world."


5. Put the minus sign (--) in front of words or phrases that you don't want to appear in the text of the search results. For example, if you want to find material on Portuguese water dogs but you want to exclude material that talks about breeding them, you could write: "Portuguese water dogs--breeding" (leave no space around the minus symbol and the keyword to be excluded).


6. Use the asterisk sign (*) in place of the letter "s" whenever "s" is used to make a word plural. The asterisk sign is the wildcard sign. By using it in place of "s" the search engine will return results with text material published online that contains either the plural or non-plural form of your keyword.


7. Click on the appropriate link located above the search bar on search engine websites to specify whether you want to search all online material indexed by the search engine, just "images" or just "video" content.


8. Type your keyword search query in the search box. Hit the "Enter" key.



Related posts



    Keyword meta tags were once considered the most important factor in search engine optimization. Today they're considered the least important; according to the online Search Engine Journal, most se...
    A website should target well-researched keyword phrases for optimal search engine indexing.Keyword selection is an essential part of the Web design process. Search engine optimization (SEO) includ...
    Guide Internet browsers to your website with accurate local keywords.Optimizing a search engine to deliver your local website to the top of the results' list can do wonders for your business. Whet...
    Using keywords on a web page helps the search engines understand what your pages are about and helps people who are searching for your information find you with a search. Using good keywords is on...
    Photo by Clix/Sxc.huUsing keyword phrases in web writing is essential if you want the search engines, and people, to find your writing. Think about your own Internet searches, they probably includ...