Do you use BOOLEAN logic when searching the web?

[widgitmaster]

Do you use BOOLEAN logic when searching the web with Google, or when searching for items in eBay?

If not, your searching will be more productive if you do!

BOOLEAN:
A system of logic. It is used on the Internet in searching for resources.
In its simplest form for example, entering "Web AND Page" as search criteria
would tell the search tool to find resources that contain both the words
both "Web" and "Page." Entering "Web OR Page" as search criteria would
tell the search tool to find resources that contain both the words "Web"
and "Page" or either word.


Try searching eBay with the Logic Opperator "-new" , it will only show items that are NOT titled as new, and eliminate the flood of duplicate items from multiple vendors!

Hope this helps in your searching efforts!
Eric

[Geof]

Stolen from Wikipedia:

"Boolean logic is a complete system for logical operations. It was named after George Boole, an English mathematician at University College Cork who first defined an algebraic system of logic in the mid 19th century."

Considering we are in the 21st century I think your option; "I'm too old to learn that new fangled crap!!" is a bit out of time and place.

[widgitmaster]

Originally Posted by Geof Stolen from Wikipedia: "Boolean logic is a complete system for logical operations. It was named after George Boole, an English mathematician at University College Cork who first defined an algebraic system of logic in the mid 19th century." Considering we are in the 21st century I think your option; "I'm too old to learn that new fangled crap!!" is a bit out of time and place.

OOps!
Can't edit polls, so we are stuck with it!
Eric

[widgitmaster]

How to Conduct an Advanced Internet Search


To conduct an advanced search on the Internet, use the Boolean operators, such as "AND" and "OR," to make your search as specific as possible.

Steps:
1. Go to a Web search engine.

2. To find documents containing an exact phrase, type the phrase, surrounded by quotation marks, into the search field. For example, typing 'fish sticks' (with the quotation marks) will return documents that contain the phrase 'fish sticks,' but not Web pages that contain only 'fish' or 'sticks.'

3. To find documents containing a pair of words, but not necessarily together, type the words separated by the word 'AND' in all caps. For example, typing 'fish AND sticks' (without the quotation marks) will return Web pages that contain 'fish,' 'sticks' and 'fish sticks.'

4. To find documents containing either one word or the other, type the words separated by the word 'OR' in all caps. For example, typing 'fish OR sticks' (without the quotation marks) will return documents that contain 'fish' or 'sticks,' or both.

5. To exclude a word from your search, type the word you wish to exclude into the search field, preceded by the word 'NOT' in all caps. For example, typing 'fish NOT salmon' (without the quotation marks) will return only documents that do contain the word 'fish' and do not contain the word 'salmon.'

6. To find documents that contain two words separated by 10 to 25 words, type the two words separated by the word 'NEAR' in all caps, into the search field. If your search expression is lengthy or complicated, use parentheses to separate the different parts. For example, typing 'fish OR sticks NOT (salmon OR trout)' will get you entries that have the words 'fish' or 'sticks' or both, but do not have the words 'salmon' or 'trout.'


Tips:
Check the directions for the search engine you're using. Some require very specific syntax.

Some search engines allow the following symbolic substitutions for Boolean words: & for AND, | for OR, ! for NOT, and ~ for NEAR. But not all searches allow this, so if your query comes up blank, try using the words instead.

Some search engines don't sup-port the Boolean words 'NEAR' or 'NOT.'

[jim_diy]

By far the most usefull I have found is to add "-.com" to the end of a search when doing reasearch on a subject although a lot of comercial sites do have good info.

[widgitmaster]

AND, OR, AND NOT & NEAR
BOOLEAN LOGIC
Way to combine terms using "operators" such as "AND," "OR," "AND NOT" and sometimes "NEAR." AND requires all terms appear in a record. OR retrieves records with either term. AND NOT excludes terms. Parentheses may be used to sequence operations and group words. Always enclose terms joined by OR with parentheses. Which search engines have this? See +REQUIRE or -REJECT TERM and FUZZY AND. Want a more extensive explanation of Boolean logic, with illustrations?

[gar]

060528-1952 EST USA

Do a Google search on "Wilson P. Tanner", then try 'Wilson P. Tanner'. There is a gross difference. Almost all the results of the double quoted string refer to my old psychology professor, and boss related to his visual and audio experiments on signal detectability.

Google is pretty good these days in using the middle initial in the double quote version. However period or comma does not make any difference.

Note that Google does not search old or maybe any US Patent Office patent files.

Google is currently in the process of scanning virtually the entire library at the University of Michigan and a few other locations. In Google put in the search string "ann arbor news google scanning library" without single or double quotes for a newspaper article on the scanning project. Larry Page one of the founders of Google holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan with honors and a Masters degree from Stanford University.

Try searching your own name thru Google using double quotes. See what happens.

.

[unterhaus]

I searched for my own name and found out I was murdered -- first hit.

I don't like the way that google does double quotes. If you search for "I want this exact phrase -- consarn it", it shouldn't ignore the --

I was just looking for something about servos the other night. It drives me crazy that I get a million hits for repair houses. They were spamming google search results before any of the crazy Russian identity theft joints even thought of the idea.

[PEU]

I miss the NEAR operator that I used to use in the old Altavista, Google does not support it.


Pablo

[gar]

060531-1818 EST USA

Internet search engines are mostly word search mechanisms, and are not idea or information content based. They probably create an index of words with some prioritization and limited other algorithm schemes.

The double and single quote of strings is probably one of the easiest means to eliminte a large number of unwanted sites. Of course this means searchers must be educated enough to know how to play with words to get to the material they are interested in.

When you create a web site there is a lot of work to try to include words, and word sequences, into your discussion to make it easy for others to search and find you.

In your web site always include your city and state, and maybe country somewhere. The important information on your main page (index page) is a written description of what your site is about. Pictures, .jpg files, are of no value because the search engine can not interpret the content, even if it has text displayed.

Google problems:

IN regular Google search for
copper sheet ann arbor michigan
This brings up ASAP Source as a local place
change the string to
copper sheet vendor ann arbor michigan
and the result within the first 100 results does not show ASAP Source.
Change vendor to supplier and the fourth major result is ASAP Source.

Next go to Google MORE and pick LOCAL.
Using the first string above there is nothing close to Ann Arbor.
Add supplier to the string and there are no matches.

Thus, Google is doing a poor job on their LOCAL search. Google does not like to hear your complaints on this subject.

Try your own experiments.

.

[unterhaus]

Gar,
I agree, Google has some serious deficiences. PeopIe have learned how to manipulate their search engine in various ways to put their site above the one that you actually want. It works incredibly well for finding academic papers. For other purposes, it can be very arduous.

On a less serious note, I was hoping that Dilbert's search engine would be better, but first he got hit with the lawyerpult, and then Google tried to kill him by knocking the International Space Station out of orbit so it would crush his house. Now he's been hired back to his original job, which means the pointy haired boss is now in charge of his search engine, so there is no way it will be any good.

[Salty72]

why do people use perenthasis -standard brackets ()- when they do searches

does a question mark make a differance to the search,

and why can you never find a web page that you know exists even when you type the name of the owner that appears several hundred times on the page -

I really think the meta data used to disctribe the web pages needs to be better organised

guess that is what happens when you create an open source repository for data and don't create rules for it's use.

what happend to .com (being comertial) .org (being an organisation) and why is adult material not located on the xxx. instead of the www.

just food for thought ???