Boolean Search Tricks & Tips

 

Google Search Tips

What to enter into Google

Enter This	To Get These Results
"John Smith"	John Smith John Smith Carpenter Mr. John Smith
John Smith	John Smith Smith John John William Smith John Jones, Will Smith, etc. John the blacksmith
"Smith, John"	Smith, John Taylor-Smith, John
Smith AND John	Smith, John John Smith John Jones, William Smith, Peter Fay
" TR " AND Jones (Space in front of 'T' and after 'R')	TR Jones, Jones TR
"TR" AND Jones (No space in front of T or after R)	TR Jones TROY JONES Jones, Trenton
Smith NEAR Biloxi	Joe Smith Biloxi, MI
Smith*	Smithsonian Smithers Smith

Boolean Search Techniques

(Boolean Operators)

• AND: retrieves both keywords
• OR: retrieves either keyword
• NOT: excludes a keyword (use only at the end of a search string)
• NEAR: will find documents that have the words in close proximity to each other, i.e. within 20 words
• “ ”: retrieves only exactly what is enclosed in quotes. This is useful for finding people as shown by the examples in the table above. It is also important to note that when you are searching for an abbreviation, include a SPACE BEFORE AND AFTER THE ABBREVIATION!!!
• *: This is called a wildcard (just the asterisk) and it will retrieve anything after the asterisk.

Boolean Operators

• AND: retrieves both keywords
• OR: retrieves either keyword
• NOT: excludes a keyword (use only at the end of a search string)
• NEAR: will find documents that have the words in close proximity to each other, i.e. within 20 words
• “ ”: retrieves only exactly what is enclosed in quotes
• * a wildcard / retrieves anything after the *

If you are looking for a simple two letter combination, don't forget to enclose the two letters in quotes and have a space before and after.

Example:
THIS: " IT "

Not THIS: "IT"

Boolean Operators on Different Search Engines

• Different search engines view Boolean operators differently.
  o For example, Google does not require the use of AND
  o For example, Google uses | or OR to mean the same thing (This symbol is called the "pipe".)
• Most search engines have Advanced Search Templates which can make searching VERY easy on that site, especially for new internet searchers.

 

General Search Engine Job Searches

Title Search – searches for titles of web pages
• Google, Yahoo, Ask, or AOL intitle:
• AltaVista, Lycos, or MSN title:
Google EXAMPLE - intitle:jobs (wi OR wisconsin)

URL Search – searches for url’s (addresses) of web pages
• Google, Yahoo, AltaVista inurl:
• Lycos url.all:
Google EXAMPLE - inurl:(jobs OR employment OR career) corporate controller

Host or Site Search (x-raying) – allows you to x-ray and search websites, like “googling” a website
• Google or Yahoo site:
• AltaVista host:
• Lycos url.host:
Yahoo EXAMPLE - site:members.aol.com AND resume AND (accountant OR cpa)

Link Search (“Flipping”) – allows you to search links to a particular site, i.e. targeting a specific company, if there is a link on their to that site.
• Google, AltaVista, Yahoo link:
• MSN linkdomain:
AltaVista EXAMPLE - link:www.resumeresourcegroup.com AND resume

Common Job Advertisement Words
Submit, Opening, Recruiter, Send, Benefits, Requirements, Opportunity, Apply, Job, Jobs, Careers, Eoe, Reply, "my client".

2nd String Common Job Posting Words
Resume, Jobs, Employment, CV, Vitae, Bio, Qualifications, Experience, Education, References, "Work History", "Technical skills", "Project duration"