How do I use a search engine to refine my search results?
Search engines allow us to find websites by typing in a few key search terms in a search box. They search millions of web documents for the words we specify and present us with a list of results or "hits". Some search engines do simple searching and others allow various advanced searching techniques. Depending on the search engine you may limit the results of your search by trying the following search techniques:
Practice What You've Learned!
Try a simple search with one keyword on Yahoo at www.yahoo.com (trees)
Try multiple keywords in a simple search on Yahoo at www.yahoo.com (trees vs. evergreen trees)
Try using OR between key words on Bing at www.bing.com (trees OR evergreen)
Try using NOT between key words on Bing at www.bing.com (trees NOT evergreen)
Try phrase searching on Bing at www.bing.com (evergreen trees vs. "evergreen trees")
Try rephrasing your keywords on Google at www.google.com (evergreen trees vs. trees evergreen)
Try combining search techniques on Google at www.google.com ("evergreen trees" -fast)
Try using the asterisk symbol in a phrase on Yahoo at www.yahoo.com ("a rolling * gathers no *")