Online Search Techniques
“The diversity of cultures represented on the Web is an amazing and wonderful thing,” notes Web expert Barbara G. Friedman, who adds, “But online searches are easily thwarted if the user fails to take into account the myriad spellings and meanings that accompany that diversity. Searching for one will not find sites that use the other spelling, or for that matter sites containing misspellings. In addition, the same word can have alternate meanings even within a single language.”
In her book Web Search Savvy: Strategies and Shortcuts for Online Research (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005), 20, she offers the following heads-up:
A search effort should take that into account…For example, in English, the word “bank” has several definitions having nothing to do with money. In the U. S., the word “flat” can refer to a level surface, a musical note, or a deflated tire; whereas in Britain a “flat” might refer to an apartment. Unless you provide a search engine more exacting terms your results will be numerous, including sites containing all meanings.
Friedman’s book contains a wealth of information about online search strategy, including other things that can sabotage a search. Check it out.