HIT: Netscape Searching Techniques

[Joan Rosen <jrosen@MCIUNIX.MCIU.K12.PA.US>]

The original question concerned how to limit the number of hits to a
workable figure, instead of the thousands; particularly problems with
increasing the number of hits with each additional keyword instead of the
usual Boolean phenomenon of decreasing hits with additional keywords.

Thanks to all who responded.

1.  Use AltaVista or Lycos. Both will accept NOT.  (AltaVista requires AND
NOT as the syntax).
         http://www.lycos.com
         http://www.altavista.digital.com

2. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 08:41:17 -0500
   From: Anne C Oelke <acoelke@peoples.net>

If you use the Alta Vista search
engine, you can enclose a phrase in " " to hold it together and have it
searched as a unit.  You would type "Whitemarsh High School" .  You can
also use - that's the minus sign to exclude things.  For instance -LM_NET.
There are buttons on the alta vista home page for simple and advanced
searching and they give lots of helpful hints.  These suggestions do not
work on all other search engines.

3. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 09:53:58 -0400 (EDT)
   From: ELIZABETH A. FINDLEY <eafindle@hamlet.uncg.edu>
I am
a student in Library Science and I'm taking a course this semester in how
to search computer files.  My professor has a web site that is very
helpful.  In it he ranks the search engines and has detailed instructions
on how to use them.  (Some support Boolean, some do not--he tells you
which ones.) There are also direct links to each search engine.  The URL
is
        http://www.infi.net/~rdralph/LIS646

4. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 10:18:07 -0400 (EDT)
   From: sarahl@ccpl.carr.lib.md.us

I usually use AltaVista
search engine.  To look for the info you were looking for I would type
folkdance+Plymouth .  I'm not an expent (for sure!) but the + signs seem
to work similar to a boolean search. It works pretty well.  Good luck!

5. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 11:29:44 -0500 (EST)
From: FRDSCHLIB@SHRSYS.HSLC.ORG

Try putting the word AND in caps.  This
seems to work for me.  Also, even if the search engine is searching for
the terms separately, it will first search for them together and the
highest ranking hits come first.
Wendy Waloff, librarian, Friends Select School, Philadelphia
frdschlib@hslc.org

6. One trick that appears to work is putting the whole term inside quotes.
The search engine will sometimes then search only for that phrase or find
nothing.
Ron McAtee, Media Specialist
Kankakee Valley High School
3923 W. State Rd. 10
Wheatfield, IN 46392
rmcatee@netnitco.net
219.656.3143 x209

7. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 1996 19:01:08 -0500
   From: Linda Slacum <lslacum@dol.net>

Read the HELP section at the beginning of your search.  Some
engines use "  ", +keyword, -keyword (where the space after + or - is
needed or not needed depending upon the engine) and many other varieties.
It is for this reason I tend to use a single engine (since I know its
pecularities) and when I get stuck, I jump to another engine, but always
read the HELP or REFINE SEARCH secions.  Good luck.  Linda

8. Date: Sun, 15 Sep 96 23:54:05 -0400
   From: Joanne Sullivan <joanne@shore.net

When using Altavista, whose URL is:  http://www.altavista.digital.com put
a hyphen directly in front of anything you want to omit and it will work
like a minus sign.  Hence -LM_NET will leave out those hits which appear
in LM_NET or mention LM_NET.  Also, if you have more than one term and you
want all terms in hits, then put + directly in front of terms.  Hence
+apples +oranges +harvest pulls up hits with all 3 terms.  If, however,
you use +apple? +orange +harvest?  then you will pull in all hits
beginning with letters up to the ?  but this only works if you have a root
searchstring of 4 letters minimum, I believe.  However, if you are
searching a term made up of more than one word, be sure to put quotation
marks around the multi-word term, eg, "Plymouth Whitemarsh High" but you
should know that if using this method (quotation marks), you must use
capitals absolutely correctly, eg., High not high for a particular high
school.  What I have just given is incomplete but a good start, I think.
The rules vary from one search engine to another.

9. Date: Mon, 16 Sep 1996 18:04:20 -0400 (EDT)
   From: Fisher-Mitchell Library <fmlib@biddeford.com>

Some search engines have better Boolean searches than others.  If you use
Alta Vista for instance you need to go to the more complex search to do an
effective Boolean type search.  Check the other search engines for complex
searches.  I haven't been searching for a couple of months but I seem to
remember that most engines have some options.
Cathy Moore
Maine

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Joan Rosen                      |           500 Rices Mill Road
Librarian                       |        Wyncote, PA 19095, USA
Cheltenham High School          |                (215) 881-6380
jrosen@mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us   |           Fax: (215) 881-6406
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