untangling_the_web

DOCID: 4046925
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Research Round-up:
The Best Research Tips & Techniques
Tip 1: Use the Right Tool
I am repeating Rule #1 because it is so important. The single biggest mistake
researchers make is using the wrong search tool. For example, search engines are
generally not useful for finding current news (use a specialized news search
service). Wikis, custom search engines, and directories are generally better when
researching a broad topic because they have a select group of sites (but watch out
for paid placement; for a directory that contains no paid placement, use Open
Directory). There are also many specialized or vertical search services that cover a
huge variety of topics, everything from chemistry to message boards.
Tip 2: Search for the Most Obscure Term
I needed to find the uri for an article at CNET's News. com. Sounds easy. I knew the
date and title, but the internal CNET search tool wouldn't let me search by date and
the title words returned nothing. Solution? I picked an obscure word from the
article-in this case, the last name of the Microsoft executive interviewed for the
article, ("wallent") and searched on that term. Bingo. Only one hit and it was the
article I wanted.
Tip 3: Put the Most Important Search Term First
While it's not always true, search engines usually give more weight to the first term
you list because the search software assumes it's the most important term
(otherwise, why would you list it first)? Try these two queries in Google one after the
other: [gardening roses] then [roses gardening]. The results are similar but not
identical.
Tip 4: Search on the Singular Form First
While it is not always the case that search engines automatically search for plural
forms of search terms, many (including Yahoo and Google) do. The converse,
however, is not true, i.e., a search on [rose] will find roses, but a search on [roses]
will not find rose. Therefore, it makes sense to search first on the singular form of a
term.
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