TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION:Web Search Field Trip: Find it on the Web withField SearchingBy William H.Weare, Jr.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could do a simplesearch in Google and not retrieve millions ofmatches? Wouldn't it be nice if you could quicklyand easily find Web documents that really matchyour query? Wouldn't it be nice if you could learnsimple and effective Web search techniques thatyou could teach your students?

Many of us who search regularly—librarians,teachers, students, and others who do onlineresearch as part of their work-—have learned toapply some relatively simple search techniquesto Web searching, such as phrase searching andthe application of Boolean logic. Most of thesesimple techniques mimic those available in librarycatalogs or library-provided elearonic resources.

Field searching on the Web is similar to fieldsearching in a library catalog or any library-provided electronic resource. However, unlikethe records in a catalog or an anide database, aWeb document has only a few searchable fields.Web pages consist of a header (informationabout the document including the title), anaddress (Uniform Resource Locator or URL),and the body (which contains the content ofthe document). The title, URL, and body aresearchable fields. A search for specific terms inthe title field or URL will greatly reduce thenumber of hits and can significantly improve thelikelihood of retrieving on-topic results, OneStat,a Web analytics provider, has found that most

"A field search that specifically targets the title or URLis not only an effective tool for your own use, but onethat is well worth teaching to your students."

Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and Ask—the fourlargest search entities that operate their owncrawling and indexing technology—ail supporta variety of advanced search techniques. Theseoptions are accessible via the Advanced SearchPage or by learning how to use the syntax that islargely unique to search engines.

FIELD SEARCHINGThis article will address what is perhaps the mosteffective of these advanced search techniques: fieldsearching. Very powerfUl and easy to learn, fieldsearching is simply a method of locating specificterms in a specific field. We will review thefield searching options available via each searchengine's Advanced Search Page, and utilize anumber of examples to show how to use syntax todo field searching from the main page. The latterapproach provides more flexible and powerfuloptions—and in some cases provides options thatare not available via the Advanced Search Page.

searches consist of two or three terms (OneStat.com). If the location of those terms is notspecified, the entire document is searched—thetide, URL, and body. This type of keyword searchcan return millions of results. In contrast, asearch confined to the title or URL would retrievesignificantly fewer results than a basic search; theresults are more likely to be specifically about thetopic because the title or URL generally containsterms that describe the content ofthat document.

THE FIELD SEARCHING CHARTSFigure 1, "Field Searching from the AdvancedSearch Page," identifies which types of fieldsearching are available from the AdvancedSearch Page of each of the four major searchengines. Figure 2, "Field Search Syntax,"delineates the syntax used by each searchengine for the two most effective field searches:searching in the title field and searching in the

URL. The most common type of Weh syntax isthe use of specific prefixes positioned before theterm(s); this is the case with field searching. Tlieremainder of the article describes specificallyhow to execute each of these techniques.

SEARCHING IN THE TITLE FIELDA search for terms in the tide field is bestillustrated with an example. A basic search inGoogle for north american black hear returnedmore than 2,600,000 results (at the time ofwriting). Presumably, all of those results have thosefour terms somewhere in the document, althoughthe terms may not he in close proximity to oneanother. 'Ihe Advanced Search Page in Googleincludes the option to "Return results where myterms occur" and the user can select "in the titleof the page." A search for the same fbur terms—north american black bear—specifying rhat theterms be in the title of the page—-yielded less than100 results—all of which have those four terms inthe title field. Because these terms appear in thetide, these documents are very likely to be aboutNorth American Black Bears. Clearly, a searchfor specific terms in the title field results in anappreciably smaller set of focused, on-topic resultsthan would an ordinary keyword search that looksfor the terms anywhere in the document. LikeGoogle, the Advanced Search Pages in Yahooand Ask include the option to search for terms inthe title of a particular Web document, but theAdvanced Search Page in Live Search does notinclude this option (see screen shot 1 ).

Alternatively, it is possible to search for a termor terms in the title fieid from the search boxon the main page. To locate just one term inthe tide field, input the syntax intitle: (in title:),followed by the term to be located in the title ofa document. For example, intitle:Monet (there isno space between the colon and the term) returnsdocuments that have Monet in the title field.Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and Ask all supportthe intitle:syntax. It is important to understandthat in Google, Yahoo, and Live Search, the use ofintitle: will only tetrieve documents that have thesingle term immediately following the colon in

5 2 LIBRARY MEDIA August/September 2008

the title field; the second and following terms may

appear elsewhere in the document. For instance, in

the search intitle:north american black bear, only

the term north would be specifically searched for

in the title field.

Note that the intitle:syntax will work with a phrasethat is enclosed in quotation marks; for example,intitlt':"north american black bear"—but keep inmind that the use of quotation marks dictates theorder of tbe terms; if those particular terms are inany othet order in the title field, that documentwould not be found.

Generally, a Web search will include more thanone term; unfortunately, the syntax needed tofind more than one term in the title field variesby search engine. Google supports the syntaxall in title: {all in title:)—followed by the terms tobe located in the title ofa document. For example,a Google search for allintitle:north americanblack bear (no space between the colon and thefirst term) rettieves documents in which the fourterms—north, american, black, and beat—allappear in the title {see screen shot 2). In Ask,(unlikf Google, Yahoo, and Live Search), it is theiniitte: (not allintitle:) syntax that will locate allof the terms following tbe colon in the title field.Yahoo and Live Search do not support ¿ specificsyntax for locating more than one term in the titlefield. However, it is possible to do so: simply usethe intitle:syntax more than once; fot example,intitIe:Monet intitlc:biography will retrieve Webdocuments with both Monet and biography in thetitle field.

SEARCHING IN THE URLEvery Web document has a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL)—this is the "address" of the

document. Like a title search, a search for termsin the URL, rather than in the entire document,can return a significantly smaller set of focused,on-topic results. In Google, for example, thereis an option to "Return results where my termsoccur" and the user can select "in the URL of thedocument." Again, a search for terms in the URLis best explained with an example. A basic searchin Google for the terms asthma and children—without specifying that the terms be located inthe URL of the document—yielded more than3,500,000 results {at rhe time of writing); a searchfor the same terms in the URL yielded about 750results. Ihe content of che documents having bothterms in the URI, appears to be primarily aboutasthma and children. Ihe Advanced Search Pagesin Google, Yahoo, and Ask all include the option tosearch for terms in the URL; the Advanced SearchPage in Live Search does not include this option.

As was rhe case with searching for terms in thetitle field, it is possible to search for terms in theURL from the main page. To locate ¡tisr one rermin the URL, input the syntaxinurl: (in URL:), followed by thererm to be located in the URLofa document. For example,inurhasthma (there is no space

between the colon and theterm). Google, Yahoo, and Ask

recognize the inurl:syntax. Notetbat in Google and Yahoo, the

use of inurl: will retrieve onlydocuments that have the single

term immediately following thecolon in the URL; the secondand following terms may appearelsewhere in the document. For

example, in the search inurhnorth american black

bear, only the term north would be specifically

searcbed for in the URL.

Tlie syntax needed to find mote than one term inthe URL varies by search engine. From Googlesmain page, use the syntax allinurl: (all in URL:)in the search box, followed by tbe terms to befound in the URL of the document; for example,allinurl:asthma children. In Ask, the inurt: syntaxbehaves like Google's allinurl: and will locate allof the terms following the colon in the URL. Forexample, a search for iiiurl:asrhma children willretrieve documents that have both asthma andchildren in the URL. Although Yahoo does notsupport specific syntax for locating for more thanone term in the URL it will allow for the repetitionof the use of the inurhsyntax to find more thanone term; tor example, inurhasthma inurhchildren.The documentation on the Help Page at LiveSearch indicates that the inurhsyntax is supported;however, it docs nor currently work.

SCREEN SHOT 1A search for north american black bear in the title field using theAdvanced Search Page in Google.

Google Advanced Search

Figure 1 : Field Searching from the Advanced Search Page

Is this search option available from theAdvanced Search Page?

Google Yahoo! Live Search Ask

Find term(s) in TITLE:

Findterm(s)inURL:

August/September 2008

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

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LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION 53

TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION

"A search for specific terms

in the title field or URL will

greatly reduce the number

of hits and can significantly

improve the likelihood of

retrieving on-topic results."

SEARCHING IN THE BODYIt is also possible to limit a search for panicular terms to thebody of a document, and not search the title field or URL.However, a search limited to the body of the document is notparticularly useful. For example, a basic search in Google forMonet and biography yielded "about 270,000" results; limitingthe query to the text of rhe document via the advanced searchpage yielded "about 256,000" results. This is typical: for mostsearches there does not appear to he a significant difference inthe number of results returned between a search for terms in theentire document (title, URL, and body), and a search limited to[he body (or text) of the document.

SIMPLE, POWERFUL, EFFECTIVE, TEACHABLESimple, yet powerful, a field search that specifically targets thetitle or URL is not only an effective tool for your own use, butone that is well worth teaching to your students. Whether youchoose to introduce them to the Advanced Search Page, ordecide to teach the relatively simple syntax, your students will bepleased with this new tool. They might even be impressed withyour search savvy. ••

REFERENCESOneStat.com. "Less People Use 1 Word Phrase in SearchEngines According to OneStat.com." 24 July 2006. OneStat.com. 19 Nov. 2007. wvvw.onestat.com/html/aboutus_p ressbox4 5-search-phrases. html

William H.Weare, Jr.,/5r/)eaccess services librarian at Valparaiso

(Indiana) University, and can be reached

at william.weare@valpo.edu.

SCREEN SHOT 2A search for north american black bear in the title field using theaUmtitle: syntax in Google.

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Figure 2: Field Search Syntax

What search syntax is needed to search within the title orURL of the document?

TITLE:Find One Term

TITLE:Find Two orMore Terms

URL:Find One Term

URL:Find Two orMore Terms

Google

intitle:termORallintitte:term

allintitle:termterm term

inurhtermORallinurhterm

allinurhtermterm term

Yahoo! Live Search Ask

intitle:term intitle:term intitle:term

intitle:termintitle:termintitle:term

inurliterm

inurl:terminurl:terminurl:term

intitle:termintitle:termintitlerterm

Does NotWork

Does NotWork

intitle:termterm term

inurhtermterm term

Notes: Do not put a space between the colon and the first term being searched for. It isnot necessary to use the Boolean AND in a search, as AND is the default operatorin the four major search engines.

5 4 LIBRARY MEDIA CONNEQIOM August/September 2008