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Phrasing a Simple Search

You can get awfully artful and creative with search terms. But 9 times out of 10, you needn't get too fancy about searching. You go to the search site, type a simple word or phrase in the text box, click the submit button, and wait a few moments for the hit list to show up.

If the list shows links that look like they hold what you're after, try 'em. If not, try another search term.

You can use multiple words in a search term; for example, someone's full name (Michael Moriarty) or another multi-word term (two-term presidents). But when you use multiple words, some special considerations apply. See “Phrasing a Serious Search ...