Southwest Public Libraries: Webfinders Search Tips


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			Webfinders Search Tips
			What am I searching? When searching Webfinders, you are searching a collection of web sites that librarians have selected for quality and content. These sites have been assigned to categories which you can browse or search. Refining Your Search: The webfinder search option allows for advanced boolean, wildcard and phrase searching. Queries search web site titles, subjects that librarians assigned to each site, annotations and urls. Boolean Searches: Using AND, OR, and NOT will allow you to find more specific information. AND Searches for web sites that reference both words. For example: Ohio and Buckeyes. OR Searches for web sites that reference either word. For example: Science or Art. NOT Searches for web sites that do not reference the second word. For example: Recipes not Chocolate. Searching for Phrases: "Quotation Marks" Placing quotation marks around words will search for those words as a phrase. Using Wildcards:If you are not sure of the exact spelling of a word, or you are looking for root words, wildcard operators are useful. * The asterisk is a substitute for any number of characters. For example, 'teach' will find teach, teachers, teacher, teaching, teaches, etc. ? The question mark is a substitute for one character. For example, '?ar?et' will find both carpet and target, but not learjet. Searching for URL's* Wildcard characters are helpful when searching for web sites with a particular domain name. For example, if you are searching for U.S. government sites, you might want to limit your search to find web sites that use the domain ending .gov. For example, 'senate and .gov' would find web sites that contain senate and the .gov domain name. What if I get too many results? Try combining search terms with 'and.' Using 'and' will result only in pages where both search terms are found. Try using 'not'. This will help eliminate certain keywords from your search results. What if I get too few results? Check your spelling. Did you use 'and' to combine search terms? Try using 'or' instead. Did you use a plural search term? Try using the singular term instead. Think in broad terms. Webfinders is a relatively small collection of sites. If you are looking for information on Abraham Lincoln, try 'president' as a search term. Do you still have questions? Ask a librarian! Call 614-875-6716, or stop by an information desk today and a librarian will be happy to assist!