Searching the Internet Effectively - continued

Try “Movies in BC” and you get fewer results until, finally, you type in “Movie Listings” + “Name of your community” + “BC” and there it is—what you need—at the top of a very short list.

You have just completed a Boolean search!

A Boolean search = a way to combine multiple terms when searching the Internet. You form it like this:

TERM + TERM (where the terms are the key words you want to search)

Example: eagles + “vancouver island”

Remember you can include more than two:

TERM + TERM +TERM
eagles + “vancouver island” + nesting

The advantage of a Boolean search is obvious. You get to the information you need faster and easier. The more specific you can be with your search terms, the more efficiently you will find the information that you are after. And by really thinking through your search terms from a vague beginning to a detailed search, you will find that you have an even better sense of the topic that you are researching.

Note that most search engines have an “advanced search” option that will also allow you to compose a search with many terms. Try this if you wish to have more guidance than you would composing your own Boolean search.
Remember to evaluate the information you find (print or online) using your critical reading skills! Is your source a fact or an opinion?