Reflection
Day III
Web
search
On
this day we were taught how to browse using different search tools. In fact the
tools were very interesting, informative and useful. So far what I was
searching in the net was just a basic search. After attending the third session
I came to know more about an advance search and I found it very helpful. I also
found that it could save time because required information is provided within short
period of time.
The
following are the search tools introduced to us.
- Boolean
Operator
- Truncation
- Wild
cards
- Restricting
search using site
- Restricting
search by format
Boolean Operators
They
are simple words (AND, OR, NOT or AND NOT) used as conjunctions to combine or
exclude keywords in a search, resulting in more focused and productive results.
This should save time and effort by eliminating inappropriate hits that must be
scanned before discarding.
Using
AND operators The AND & OR operators are used to filter records based on
more than one condition. The AND operator displays a record if both the first
condition AND the second condition are true.
Truncation
Truncation,
also called stemming, is a technique that broadens your search to include
various word endings and spellings. To use truncation, enter the root of a word
and put the truncation symbol at the end. Examples:
child*
= child, childs, children, childrens, childhood
genetic*
= genetic, genetics, genetically
Truncation
symbols may vary by database; common symbols include: *, !, ?, or #
Wildcards:
Similar
to truncation, wildcards substitute a symbol for one letter of a word. This is
useful if a word is spelled in different ways, but still has the same meaning.
Examples:
wom!n
= woman, women
colo?r
= color, colour
Restricting
search using site;
Using
the site operator to search for information from a particular location on the
web helps in narrowing down our search. Eg. Typing “org, bt, gov, com…” in the
url
Restricting
search by formats;
Another
way of narrowing down the search and saving time is by restricting with file
formats. Type the type of file that we are looking for will reduce our search
task to a great deal. Eg. “pdf, htm, xls,docs, ppt,…
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