Self-Service Portal
"What would you like to know?"

Keep it simple! Start by typing the name of a relevant thing, place, or concept.
• [puppy training tips]
• [london dinner cruise]

Add relevant words if you don't see what you want after doing a simple search.
• First try: [puppy]
• More precise: [puppy training]
• Even more precise: [dalmatian puppy training class]
It may take several attempts to find the right words to describe your search.

Try words that a website would use to describe what you're looking for.
Not ideal: [my head hurts]
Not ideal: [why is my head killing me]
Better: [headache]

Use only the important words.Too many words will limit your results.
Not ideal: [country where bats are an omen of good luck]
Better: [bats good luck]

Source: Google Basic Search Help
More web search help: Google Tips & Tricks

Too many results:

Start small! Begin with just one or a few search terms. Add additional terms if you have too many results.

Use good search terms. Use terms that are more specific. Do not use OR between terms that mean different things (for example, women OR salary).

Too few search terms. If you only have one general term in the search box, consider adding another term that relates to the topic you are interested in.

Use limiters. Limiters (such as date and format) give you more targeted results.

Topic is too broad. Narrow the scope of your search. Think about the different aspects of your topic you will address and search for them separately. Then synthesize the information. You may need to narrow your topic if it is too large to cover in a short paper.

Use quotation marks. If your search term involves more than one word, consider putting them within quotation marks so that the search engine will only generate results with the exact term. Otherwise, it will look for results with any of the words the phrase contains. (For example: searching for medical error without quotation marks will get you sources that contain both medical and error, and not the exact phrase.)

Too few results:

Is this the best database for your topic? If you are using a subject-specific database (education, psychology, etc.), try a multidisciplinary database like Academic Search Premier or a specialized search engine like Google Scholar. Be prepared to try several different databases. If you need a discipline/topic-specific database, try the Subject Guides or Databases List, which allow you to browse Databases by subject.

Use good search terms. Check spelling, and brainstorm synonyms or related terms. You can use OR between synonyms (for example salary OR pay OR compensation) to increase the number of results.

Too many search terms. If you have three or more search terms, try removing one to see if your results improve.

Too many limiters. Use only limiters that are absolutely necessary.

Your topic is too narrow. What is the broader theme of your topic? Break your topic down and search for different parts separately. Then synthesize the information you find.

Try using truncation. By replacing the end of a word with a symbol (usually *, ?, or $), you can broaden your search by finding other forms of that word. (For example, searching for Mexic* will retrieve results with Mexico, Mexican, and Mexicans.)