Evaluation of Web Resources, Flex week January 19, 2000

Controlling an Internet Search with Operators and Boolean Logic

Your name: _____________________________________________

Examine the uses for operators in the table below.

1. Using Operators to control a search

quote marks, asterisks, plus signs, and minus signs.
operatorsAlways type the operator next to the words
NO SPACES between the operator and a word.
Do put a space between each operator/word combination.
* asterisk (shift 8)type an asterisk at the right-hand side of a word to retrieve all the words that start with the one you used. Example: child* (for childhood, childish, childlike)*
"......" double quotes around a phrasethe quotes create a phrase which must be retrieved exactly as you typed it. Words next to each other and in that order. Example:"solar energy"
+ plus signa plus sign requires that the word be found in all of the search results
- a minus signa minus sign eliminates or excludes any results with that word

Study the use of operators in the table below.

Search topicsSearch statements using operators: quotes, asterisks, plus and minus signs
preventing the common cold +prevent*   +"common cold"
bats at night (not baseball)+bats   +night      -baseball
self esteem in pre-school children +child*   +pre-school   +"self esteem"
sports injuries and some sport (football, basketball) +"sports injur*"   +football

Tips:

  1. Put exact phrases within quote marks: "shoe laces" "solar energy" "rolling stones"
  2. Use quotes around names: "Eleanor Roosevelt" "Hilary Clinton"
  3. never put quotes around a single word
  4. San Francisco and Santa Cruz are two word names and they need quote marks "San Francisco" "Santa Cruz"
  5. Use only lower case letters unless you want a personal name or trademark etc.
  6. use an asterisk (*) to broaden your results:
    child* will retrieve children, childhood, childish, childlike...
    house* will retrieve houses, household
    automobile* will retrieve automobiles (plural form)
  7. there must be a space before a plus or minus sign
  8. do not put a space between the plus or minus sign and the word or phrase that follows the sign
    Your turn:Rewrite these topics as search statements using Plus signs, minus signs, quote signs and asterisks
    preventing household accidents +
    childcare in Santa Cruz +
    HMO's in California +
    art projects in pre-school +
    drinking water quality in San Jose +
    safety of playground equipment +
    common colds in children +

    Altavista Simple Search
    with quote marks, asterisks, plus signs, and minus signs.

    Open this address: http://www.altavista.com

    image of the main search dialog box for the altavista search engine

    Enter one of the search statements you wrote out from exercise 2 above

    Look at the results and choose one
    Write the information for the page you found:

    Author (Is there an author at all? Look at the top of the page and scroll to the bottom of the page-- there may be no real author)

    Title of the page (write the title in quotes)

    URL (internet address)____________________________________________________

    Date you saw the page:___________________________________________________

    Enter another of the search statements you wrote out from exercise 2 above

    Look at the results and choose one
    Write the information for the page you found:
    Author (Is there an author at all? Look at the top of the page and scroll to the bottom of the page-- there may be no real author)

    Title of the page (write the title in quotes)

    URL (internet address)____________________________________________________

    Date you saw the page:___________________________________________________

    Using Altavista Simple Search to find sites that come from a chosen domain

    (.gov .edu .org)

    In AltaVista you can add a statement that limits the sites received to those which have a characteristic you are looking for.

    Write your search statement: _________________________________________________________

    find one site:______________________________________________________

    Was it any good? Useful?_________________________________________________

    choose another site:______________________________________________________

    Was it any good? Useful?_________________________________________________

    2. Using Boolean Logic in AltaVista advanced search

    AND, OR, NOT, NEAR
    (may be combined with parentheses and asterisks and double quotes)

    Examine the terms for Boolean searching in the table below.
    operatorsAlways type the Boolean term in capital letters
    AND AND requires that the word be found in all of the search results
    OROR is used to broaden your search with alternatives and synonyms
    Example: biting AND (toddler OR child*)
    NOT NOT Eliminates or excludes any results with that word
    You must type AND NOT for the command to work at excluding what you don't want
    NEAR NEAR Requires that the words be found within 10 words of each other
    "......" double quotes around a phraseQuote marks create a phrase which must be retrieved exactly as you typed it. Words must be next to each other and in that order. Example: "playground equipment""common cold"
    (-----) parentheses to group activitesUsing parentheses allows the search engine to process this part of the search first. Next, the search engine with combine this result with the last part of the search. Most OR statements are in parentheses. Example: (cats OR dogs) AND "health problem*"
    * asterisk (shift 8)Typing an asterisk at the right-hand side of a word will retrieve all the words that start with the one you used. Example: child* (for childhood, childish, childlike)*
    * case sensitive (upper and lower case letters)Use only lower case unless you want a personal name or corporate name or proper name.

    Study the use of Boolean terms for these searches.

    Search topicsSearch statements using Boolean terms, quotes, asterisks, and parentheses
    preventing the common cold prevent* AND "common cold"
    bats at night (not baseball)bats   AND NOT   baseball
    self esteem in children and toddlers (child* OR toddler*) AND "self esteem"
    sports injuries to knees and some sport like football or basketball ("sports injur*" AND knee*) AND football

    Search topicsRewrite these topics as search statements using Plus signs, minus signs, quote signs and asterisks
    safety in the pre-school classroom
    childcare in Santa Cruz
    breast cancer and tamoxifen
    vacation travel and health in Russia
    used car sales in San Jose
    safety of playground equipment
    common colds in children

    Using Altavista Advanced Search
    with Boolean terms, quote marks, asterisks, and parentheses.

    1. Open this address: http://www.altavista.com
    2. type your search into the search box
    image of the dialog entry box used in altavista advanced search for the entry of a boolean query

    Make sure you use the "sort by" field to rank your results and avoid a list in random order
    image of the dialog box for entry of ranking term in altavista advanced search

    Write the information for the page you found:
    Author (Is there an author at all? Look at the top of the page and scroll to the bottom of the page-- there may be no real author)

    Title of the page (write the title in quotes)

    URL (internet address)____________________________________________________

    Date you saw the page:___________________________________________________

    Enter another of the search statements you wrote out from the exercise above

    Look at the results and choose one
    Write the information for the page you found:
    Author (Is there an author at all? Look at the top of the page and scroll to the bottom of the page-- there may be no real author)

    Title of the page (write the title in quotes)

    URL (internet address)____________________________________________________

    Date you saw the page:___________________________________________________

    3. Suggested activities for students seeking information in the online world

    1. Compare and contrast the type of information at a .org site or a .com site
      • Who is it for? Casual reader or professional?
      • Is the web site well organized?
      • Is the information geared toward selling/fund raising or informing?
      • Can you tell who is responsible for the information
    2. Find sources of information on
      • a particular issue
      • a notable person
      • proposed or existing legislation
    3. Find and read peer reviewed journal articles in a magazine database on a particular topic
      Revision by: Johanna Bowen
      January 05, 2000