Some basic search tips:
- Use quotation marks when searching for a phrase e.g. "genetic engineering"
- Don't use AND in your search, but do make use of OR e.g. periwinkle OR "vinca major"
- Word order matters e.g. you will retrieve a different number of results if you search river Columbia as opposed to Columbia river
Search website titles:
- You can make a search more precise by limiting your search words to the title of the page
Search specific sites or domains:
- You can limit your search to specific sites or domains by using the command site:
- Other domains that might prove useful are:
- site:gc.ca this searches the government of Canada websites
- site:gov.bc.ca searches only BC government sites
- site:org searches non-profit organization sites
- site:ca searches websites with the domain .ca for Canada
Search within the webpage
- Using the intext:[keyword] option forces the search engine to find your word within the body of the website
Search for specific document types:
- You can search for specific document types by adding the command filetype: to the end of your search. This allows you to search for pdfs, PowerPoint presentations, Excel files and others e.g. filetype:pdf, filetype:ppt, filetype:xls
Find a definition:
- Use the command define: nanotechnology to locate a definition
Advanced search option:
- You can combine some of these search options once you have retrieved a set of search results. From the results screen, go to Settings, then Advanced Search.
