While+You+are+Searching

__**Thinking while you search:**__

 __**Ignore Sponsor Links:**__  The first few links in many search engines are commercial links. Skip these and avoid wasting your time on these websites.

 __**Use CTRL+F**__  To quickly determine if a website is useful use the Ctrl key while also pressing the letter F. A bar will appear at the bottom of the page that will allow you to search for your term on the page.

 __**Use On-site search**__  Find something promising on a website? Try using the website's search to look for other resources that might be useful.

 __**Truncate URL**__  Delete parts of the end of the URL (web address) and see where it leads you. For example:  []  By removing the text after each slash you will change the information you see.  []  []  []  [|http://www.teach-nology.com/]

 __**Find Similar Pages**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"> Find something you like? Use related: [|www.websiteurl.com]<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"> to get similar results. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> For example... related: [|www.teachertools.com]<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> or click on “similar” button under search results in google.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"> __**Pay Attention to Vocabulary.**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> If you find a website you like for your topic pay attention to the words they are using to describe your topic. You might have been searching for “reading instruction” but the website uses “literacy instruction”. Try your search again with these terms and see what results you get.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> __**Use a Thesaurus:**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> Not getting the results you want? Try using ~ in from on a word to get the synonyms of that word included in your search or use an online thesaurus to find words that might yield better results.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">Try [] or[| http://www.thesaurus.com]

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"> __**Using common words.**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> Most search engines will ignore words like when, where, and it, etc. If you need these words in order to get the results you need ensure that you use + or quotations. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> “I am over here” or +I +am+over+here.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> __**Don't be afraid to switch search engines.**__ <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"> If you don't find what you are looking for with your first attempt try and different search engine. You may get better results.