8.3 Search Engines

Search engines are useful when you want to find information on a narrow subject, or to get a specific page. After putting in your keywords, a search engine will return a list of sites containing your search terms, but the results are not selected or "reviewed" for you. While Google Scholar and Scirus search engines do have some criteria for inclusion in their collections, you will need to review all search engine results for credibility and reliability.

Some common commands used in search engines include the use of quotes around a phrase so that the terms that are adjacent to each other are searched as one string, example "property tax legislation” (phrase searching), use a plus sign (+) in front of a term you want included and the minus sign (-) to exclude terms from results. Most search engines can also search using simple Boolean: AND/OR/NOT.

The advanced search featured in a search engine also can include the ability to limit results to a hosting site (princeton.edu) or to a just by domain (.gov). Look for a link to “advance search” and look for a Help link to access the commands and features in a given search engine.

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