Watson W. Wise Medical Research Library

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.
Example: "infectious diseases" instead of infectious diseases.
  • Use the "+" sign to make sure that a specific term is included. .
Example: +tuberculosis +CDC retrieves only pages with both tuberculosis and         CDC appearing on them.
  • 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.bitmedia.com/cc/url1.htm for a list of country codes.)

Watson W. Wise Medical Research Library
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler
11937 US Highway 271
Tyler, TX 75708-3154

Phone: (903)877-2865
Fax: (903)877-2221 

Last update: April 8, 2009
Questions/comments to: library@uthct.edu