Site Searches
Library Searches
Web Searches
@Forum Searches
Search Specialized Lists (@ccess-related) Search Tips (Important help here!) Electronic Research Shelf
The Search engines that appear throughout this site offers handy windows on the expanding world of information which today lies at our finger tips. All it takes is an ounce of patience and a bit of preparatory thoughtfulness to get full value out of them. The more precise you are, the more targeted will be your results. To get more specific search results, try using the Search Tips that follow below.
Notes: The Google Search engine used here provides coverage of close to two thousand pages of information that thus far appear in our various program sites under The Commons. The Search box while small on the page can actually accommodate strings of up to 250 characters.
For best results, it's important to choose
your keywords wisely. Keep these tips in mind:
By default, Google only returns pages
that include all of your search terms. There is no need to include "and"
between terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed
will affect the search results. To restrict a search further, just include
more terms. For example, to plan a vacation to Hawaii, simply type:
To enter a query into Google, just type in a few descriptive
words and hit the 'enter' key (or click on the Google Search button)
for a list of relevant web pages. Since Google only returns web pages
that contain all the words in your query, refining or narrowing
your search is as simple as adding more words to the search terms you
have already entered. Your new query will return a smaller subset of
the pages Google found for your original "too-broad" query.
The Basics of Google
Search
Automatic Exclusion of Common Words
Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results. Google will indicate if a common word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box.
If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)
Another method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are included in the search.
For example, to search for Star Wars, Episode I, use:
Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for "george washington", "George Washington", and "gEoRgE wAsHiNgToN" will all return the same results.
Word Variations (Stemming)Google now uses stemming technology. Thus, when appropriate, it will search not only for your search terms, but also for words that are similar to some or all of those terms. If you search for "pet lemur dietary needs", Google will also search for "pet lemur diet needs", and other related variations of your terms. Any variants of your terms that were searched for will be highlighted in the snippet of text accompanying each result.
The Google Web Directory (located at directory.google.com) is a good place to start if you're not exactly sure which search keywords to use. For example, searching for [ Saturn ] within the Science > Astronomy category of the Google Web Directory returns only pages about the planet Saturn, while searching for [ Saturn ] within the Automotive category returns only pages about Saturn cars. Searching within a category of interest allows you to quickly narrow in on only the most relevant pages to you.
Library and Files/Media Searches
There are a growing number of documents, files and links which are freely at the service of those who come into The Commons. If you are looking for an author, title or key word, the following should be of help.
Web Searches
As you will have noted each Search Box on our menus also provides handy access to a search function for the whole of the World Wide Web. And if that doesn't give satisfaction, try here to search the Web for your term using NorthernLight, our preferred serious research engine (though this may change in time).
Note: If NorthernLight doesn't give satisfaction, try any of the following (prhaps stating with Google which we also really like.. flexible, fast, selective): AltaVista, Excite, Google, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Deja, Yahoo!, Amazon Open Directory, or eGroups. Or try our Electronic Reference Shelf.
@World Forum Searches (eGroups)
A significant portion of the content of The Commons is lodged in the several dozen @World Fora, each of which provides some important service functions for the program in question (Library, Links & Media, Message Center, Calendar, etc.). In an ideal world these contents would also be searchable with a single key stroke at the same time as the rest. Eventually we will probably get there on The Commons, but we are not there yet.
Thus, for accessing information that our Search engine digs up from eGroups, a two, eventually three, step process is involved. The first is to place your key word or string into the search box on the menu. This will then, if the results are positive, generate a list of reference pages. In the event that one of these is an eGroups page, you may next have to go into a second Search box on that page, once you call it up, to place your key word(s) once again. With that, you should have the final short list you are looking for.
Is this an ideal situation? Not by a long shot? But it's one that we have learned to work with and use to good advantage and we hope that you will find it a help as well.
Additional Tip Each @Forum (eGroups) has its own Search Engine, which can identify entries that appear anywhere on the global site via names, words and strings. This is a two-step manipulation, requiring that you first click below and THEN type in your search term, which will then query all eGroups and not just our dedicated fora. Still, it can be handy and yield some useful surprises and perhaps unexpected insights.
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Search Specialized Sources and Lists
The following search functions have been integrated here in support of the @ccess program and its many sites. We find them extrenely useful.
