A researcher once told me that, after observing numerous groups of people searching, it was clear that few wanted to learn how to search better. They just wanted results as quickly as possible. If the first page of results didn’t look promising, they’d try some new carewords. If results for these still didn’t look promising, most would assume that what they were looking for wasn’t on the Web.
Hardly anybody wanted to use advanced search, let alone an offline source. This is an opportunity for you because, if you can learn some basic search skills and take more time when preparing your search, you will be more efficient – and ultimately faster – at finding exactly what you need.
Here are some things to keep in mind when searching on the Web.
1. Plan. Take a few minutes to think about what it is you are searching for. Step back; don’t rush in. Clarifying exactly what it is you want to find will save wading through too many irrelevant results. Spend five minutes finding out about the advanced search features of the search engine you’re using.
2. Be patient and persistent. If you’re not getting the results you expect, rethink your approach. Is there another way of framing this search?
3. Be specific, then broad. There’s so much stuff out there that you need to start your search in a reasonably specific manner. Then, if you’re getting too few – or the wrong type of – results, broaden out.
