Analyze
Your Subject
Download
this Pre-search Analysis Form  to record your information. (optional) 
- What unique words, distinctive names,
abbreviations, or acronyms are associated with your topic? These may be the place to begin because their specificity will help
zero in on relevant pages.
- Can you think of societies , organizations,
or groups that might have information on your subject via their
pages? Search these as a “phrase in quotes”, looking
for a home page that might contain links to other pages, journals,
discussion groups, or databases on your subject. You may require
the “phrase in quotes” to be in the documents’ titles
by preceding it by title:[no space]
- What other words are likely to be
in ANY Web documents on your topic?
You may want to require these by joining them with AND or preceding
each by +[nospace]
- Do any of the the words in 1, 2, or
3 belong in phrases or strings -- together in a certain order, like
a cliché?
Search these as a “phrase in quotes”. (E.g., “affirmative
action” or “communicable diseases”)
- For any of the terms in #4, can you
think of synonyms, variant spellings, or equivalent terms you
would also accept in relevant documents?
You may want to allow these terms by joining them by OR and including
each set of equivalent terms in ( ).
In Infoseek, allow any of them by omitting + and - before them.
[no space] [no space]
- Can you think of any extraneous or
irrelevant documents these words might pick up? You may want to exclude terms or phrases with -[nospace] before
each term, or AND NOT
- What broader terms could your topic
be covered by?
When browsing subject categories or searching sites of webliographies
or databases on your topic, try broader categories.
Pick the right starting place
| Does your
topic have distinctive words or a phrase? |
| |
Search Engines |
Subject
Directories |
Specialized Databases
|
Luck
Trial & Error |
| Yes |
Enclose phrases in parentheses " ".
Test run your word or phrase in Google. |
Search the broader concept, what your term is "about." |
Use the
Librarians Index
AcdemicInfo
Infomine
Direct
Search the
Invisible Web
|
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
Learn as you search. |
| No |
Use more than one term or phrase in quotes " " to
get fewer results.
|
Try to find distinctive terms in Subject Directories |
Use the
Librarians Index
AcdemicInfo
Infomine
Direct
Search the
Invisible Web |
|
| Does your
topic have a lot of synonyms, equivalent terms, homonyms or variants? |
Synonyms
For example, you want your search on economy to include words like: eononomy,
economics, econometrics, economists
|
Do a Boolean search using OR, or
Truncation (e.g. econ* in (Alta
Vista, Yahoo!, lii.org, Infomine) |
Homonyms
For example, if you type in police, you get a lot of
pages about the rock group |
Do a Boolean search using NOT or - (minus). See chart for Boolean search term types. |
Variants
For example, you type in "cloning" and get a lot
of joke pages.
|
Do a Boolean search using NOT or - (minus). See chart above. |
| Stuck? |
Look for a Gateway Page (Subject Guide).
Try an encyclopedia in a Virtual Library.
Ask at a library reference desk.
|
Never hurts to seek help |
| |
Learn as you go & VARY
your approach with what you learn. 
Adapted
from: UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet. "Finding
Information on the Internet: A Tutorial Recommended Search Strategy:
Analyze your topic & Search with peripheral vision
Workshops" http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html
Continue! 
Resources
- The Wall Street Journal, "The Best Way to
Search the Web", 18 11 02, p. R6.
- The Spider's Apprentice, "A Helpful Guide
to Search Engines", http://www.monash.com/spidap4.html#relevancy
- University of California, "Search Strategies." http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html
- University of California. "Subject Directories:
The Best and More." http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SubjDirectories.html
- Skyline College, http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/skylib/inetsrch.html#booltips
Centers for Teaching and Learning, San Mateo Community College District, CA USA Updated 2/28/2010 by Sevastopoulos
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