# Lesson Notes — Advanced Search Strategies, Operators, & Keywords

- Link: https://doss.academy/course-1-computer-literacy/unit-5-tlds-search-information-literacy/lesson-2-advanced-search-strategies-operators-keywords/lesson-notes-c1u5l2/
- Published: 2026-10-19T12:10:31-04:00
- Author: matthew.leffler@jefferson.kyschools.us

Course 1: Computer Literacy / Unit 5: TLDs, Search & Information Literacy / Lesson
2: Advanced Search Strategies, Operators, & Keywords

## Lesson overview

A **search engine** is a program that has **indexed** (collected and cataloged) 
billions of web pages so it can find matches quickly. It then **ranks** the results,
putting the ones it judges most relevant first. A few simple techniques can help
you reach what you need in fewer tries.

## Choose strong keywords

 * Use specific words that would appear on the page you want. “History of the Nintendo
   Entertainment System” works better than “old game stuff.”
 * Leave out filler words such as “the” or “how do I.”
 * If the results are off, change your **keywords** and try again. This is called**
   query refinement**.

## Search tools

  |  Technique |  Example |  What it does |  
   |  Exact match |  `"video game crash"` |  Finds pages with that exact phrase |  
 |  Exclude a word (NOT) |  `jaguar -car` |  Removes results containing “car” |  
 |  OR |  `laptop OR notebook` |  Finds pages with either word |  
 |  Wildcard |  `"the * of the web"` |  The star stands for any word |  
 |  Limit to a site type |  `climate data site:gov` |  Searches only government sites |  
 |  File type |  `resume template filetype:pdf` |  Finds only PDF files |

These are called **Boolean operators** when they connect or exclude words (AND, 
OR, NOT). Most engines treat spaces between words as AND already, and OR needs to
be typed in capital letters.

## Search filters

After you search, use **search filters** such as date range, images, news, or videos
to narrow your **search results**. Filtering by date is useful for topics that change
quickly.

## Watch out for ads

The first results are sometimes paid ads labeled “Sponsored” or “Ad.” A high ranking
does not mean a page is the most accurate.

## Check your understanding

 1. Rewrite “tell me about that thing with the old Pac-Man game” as a better search.
 2. What does the minus sign do in a search?
 3. Why might the top result not be the best source?

Use this lesson’s Key Terms page to build your glossary.