How To Create a Search String

Posted by Jim Stroud
May 22, 2008

If you are a newbie to searching the internet, two terms you want become familiar with are “search string” and boolean. The terms are synonymous, at least for the purpose of this blog post. In so many words, a search string is a collection of keywords and search commands designed to return specific results. I’m sure there is a better way of saying that, but that is what I am sticking to for now.

This is an example of a search string:

C++ java -jobs -samples intitle:resume OR inurl:resume

Now if the above search string is intimidating to you, there is a website that you will be sure to enjoy. It is called – Boolify and this is why I think beginners will enjoy it.

This is a screenshot of the homepage.

Boolify walks you through the process of creating a search string (aka Boolean search). The first thing you do is click on the Green puzzle piece. (The arrow below is pointing to it)

Clicking the puzzle piece will cause the background to dim and a smaller window to appear.

In the smaller window, add a keyword, in this case… C++

You will notice that the green puzzle piece with C++ is in the center screen and towards the bottom are Google search results for the term C++.

Now if I want to add the word “java” to my search query, I choose the blue puzzle piece (it has the word “And” on it) and drag it down to the center of the page. I then choose the green piece again and add the word “Java.”

To prevent certain words from my search query I pull down the red puzzle piece (”Not”) followed by another green piece with a new keyword (jobs). I do this because I do not want any job descriptions in my search results. I then drag down another red piece and another green piece with the word “samples” because I do not want any Sample Resumes in my results either. After that, I want to search for the word “resume” in the title of a web page/document (I use the command “intitle:resume) or in the address of a web page/document (I use the command “inurl:resume”). Everytime I add a piece of the puzzle, the results are shown at the bottom of the page.

Here is a screenshot of the final results and how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Give Boolify a try and let me know what you think, especially if you are a newbie to Sourcing.

Happy hunting!

Jim Stroud

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Comments
Comment by Lalit Dudeja on September 20, 2008 @ 7:38 pm

It’s really helpful.. I would like to pay my thanks for this post

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