Helpful Hints for Search Engines and Entering URL's

Entering a search:
Note:  A given search engine may not have all of the listed capabilities, and search syntax may be different.

• Use AND to combine terms and narrow down a search.

        Example:  cancer AND lung

• Use OR to include multiple terms.

          Example: cancer OR neoplasms

• Enclose phrases in quotation marks.
  

• Use the "+" sign to make sure that a specific term is included. .

• Use the "-" sign (minus/hyphen) to exclude unwanted terms.

Example: tuberculosis -CDC retrieves only pages about tuberculosis that do not include CDC.


• Read the search engine's home page. Hints, instructions, and advanced search capabilities are usually included.
• Try different search engines. Retrieval, coverage, and search capabilities vary.
• Use the search engine's advanced search mode.

Entering URL's:

• It is not necessary to type 'http://' before a URL.
• All URL's do not start with 'www'.

Example: The Health Center's URL is www.uthct.edu, but the Library's URL is library.uthct.edu.

• URL's are often case-sensitive.  A given URL may not work if even a single character is typed in the wrong case.
• Guessing URL's does not always work.

Example: Typing in www.ama.org retrieves the American Management Association instead of the American Medical Association.  The American Medical Association's URL is www.ama-assn.org.
• Forward slashes (/) are always used in a URL.  Back-slashes (\) are never used.
• URL codes:
• .com = commercial web site, usually North American
• .edu = educational institution web site
• .gov = U.S. civil government web site
• .org = non-profit organization
• .mil = U.S. military web site
• .us = state web site ('.us' is always preceded by an abbreviation for the state, i.e. '.tx')
• .uk, .de, .fr, etc. = foreign web sites, indicating country
(See http://www.purduenc.edu/ce/infofile/country.html for a list of country codes.)