Searching Tips

[MrSamosa]

We like to stress the importance of searching and research to new members... We simply say, "Do a Google Search," or "Search the forum," but never really give good tips on HOW to search. I know some long-term members have developed searching strategies that return them meaningful results very quickly. I think it would be beneficial to list any of your searching strategies in one place, so newbies can learn HOW to search, so they do not become frustrated and ask stupid questions.

As for me, I would like help when it comes to searching Patent Libraries. Those have repeatedly frustrated me, and I have not been able to find any interesting patents.

I dont have many tips to offer, actually just one which I'm sure many of you know alread:

- When looking for Material Safety data sheets, type the chemical name + "Material Safety" with the quotes. Don't type "MSDS", as I find that returns a lot of junk.

[grandyOse]

I have a little trouble with the seach function on this forum. If I search for sodium chloride, the search returns every post with sodium and every post with chloride. Maybe I just don't know how to search this forum very well, or maybe improving the search capabilities would be a major pain for the people who run it, I don't know.

Also, sometimes I know what I want to find, but don't know the proper terminology for it. I don't mind doing my own research and don't expect to be spoonfed, but it would be nice to be able to request a little information here without getting some major attitude. If I had a chemist friend who wanted to build an electronic circuit, I would gladly tell him what terms to search for and what subjects to learn, and then fill in the details myself. A reply of "GO SEARCH" is not very helpful. Of course, any forum will attract a few idiots who do not know how to search, but most people have already done some searching before posting a question. Their problem is usually one of not searching the correct terms, and someone knowledgable should be able to help guide their search.

When doing a web search (google is not the only search engine, btw) look at the headings: The first results are "sponsored links" these are the guys with something to sell. The next section contains "search results" and are usually more informative. Sometimes the best information is WAY back in the results, sometimes several pages. Also, if you hit on a forum, use the search function within that forum, and you may find some great stuff. Also, some of your hits may contain links; check them out. Thes are some of my methods which work pretty well.

[DBSP]

The best search tip I can give you all is to be patient. I have spend spend enormous ammounts of time att google. Typing in one word searching that word going through the first few hundred hits and then reapeating the process using the next word and so on. Once you have spend some time searching you get to know google and when you get to know google it's quite easy to find what you are looking for.

For instance searching with the advanced options and only searching for PDFs only, using the search term: SC or EFP, gives you a rather large ammount of good PDFs on the topic.

To round things up the best advice I can give you is to spend lots of time searching, you can't expect to find things on the first page, you may have to spend several hours to find what you are looking for....

[Arkangel]

I can't remember which thread it was, but Primopyro from the Hive gave some excellent searching tips a while back. This (http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1840) is one thread that discusses it, but I think there's another more specific post by him that covered searching, and every noob should read it. You could start by searching for that thread;)

[Tuatara]

I've always found the word 'synthesis' to be a very good one to add to searches for detailed chemical processes. Filters out most of the sites just selling stuff.

I agree with grandyose - sometimes the hardest part in finding an answer is knowing how to ask your question. Example : me , when looking for the mix used in Christmas crackers - got nothing useful out of google until someone here suggested searching for 'pull string'( Thanks!) I never, ever would have thought of that.

Perhaps the water cooler would be a good place to allow requests for nomenclature - not spoonfeeding, just general directions.

[Nihilist]

This is the most comprehensive guide to how search engines work, and how to use them to your greatest advantage that I know of: http://blacksun.box.sk/tutorials.php/id/129 It is incredibly helpful in refining your searches and allowing you to understand just how search engines like google parse and get results for your queries.

[Anthony]

Originally posted by grandyOse
I have a little trouble with the seach function on this forum. If I search for sodium chloride, the search returns every post with sodium and every post with chloride.

Searching for "sodium chloride" should fix that.