New Opportunities for Accessing Health Information in the Twin Tiers
	Tips for Searching the Web

Web Searching Search engines Medical search engines Metasearch Engines Subject directories Medical directories Search techniques Evaluating Information Issues to Consider Web Evaluation Checklist Medical Databases ClinicalTrials Health Reference ASAP Internet Grateful Med PubMed Help Using Databases Database Descriptions Document Delivery Loansome Doc DocLine Interlibrary Loan Miscellaneous Tools Current Awareness Grant Opportunities Electronic Journals Medical Reference Training the User Issues to Address Handouts to Use Sample Outlines Bibliography Links to Workshop Sites Home Back to Workshop Home		Search engines are set up to allow the novice user to do a basic search by typing in a few words that describe the information he wants. Most search engines will also allow a searcher to use some more advanced techniques in order to limit and refine the results. Try some of these.
		General Tips
		Use nouns and objects as keywords Be specific, using unique words		Use at least 3 keywords in your search Avoid common words, e.g. effects, weather
		Use Phrases " " A phrase would be two or more words you want to appear together in a particular order. Place a phrase "inside quotation marks."		Use Truncation (Wildcards) * By putting an * at the end of the root of a word, you can find all words that begin with those letters.
		Examples "rotator cuff injury" "hay fever"		Examples medic* finds medicine, medical, medicinal allerg* finds allergy, allergies, allergic
		Use the plus (+) sign Place a + (no spaces) in front of each word or phrase you want to be sure is included.		Use the minus (-) sign Place a - (no spaces) in front of each word or phrase you don't want to be included.
		Examples  +accupuncture +"clinical trials"  +stroke +cva		Examples  +anorexia -bulimia  +"heart attack" -men
		Boolean Logic
		When you use the plus and minus signs in a search, you are using the Boolean logic terms AND and NOT. To learn more advanced searching techniques use the tutorial below: Boolean Searching on the Internet from U. of Albany
		Use OR Type OR between words to get any of the words. Useful for concepts that may have many synonyms.		Combine +, -, and OR You can use AND, NOT, and OR in any combination to create complex searches.
		Examples aged or elderly or "senior citizens" "alternative medicine" or "complimentary medicine"		Examples  +"lung cancer" +bronchitis -smoking  +pms +(males or men) -(females or women)
		Use More Than One Search Engine Although there is some overlap, each search engine has a different database, so you'll get different results from engine to engine.		Use the Help Screens Most search engines allow advanced ways to search using phrases and Boolean operators - look for a "Help" button to find instructions.
Funded by the National Library of Medicine through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region. Sponsored by South Central Regional Library Council of New York. Created by Kay Benjamin, August 2000.