The University of South Carolina Beaufort

"Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going. "
--Anonymous

INTRODUCTION

So, you're still getting those 1,670,000+ responses to your search queries on the Web, and you're still too busy to do anything about it, like reading the lengthy, and sometimes confusing, "help" screens to find out how to improve your searching techniques.

Look no further! Real help is here, in the USCB Library's BARE BONES Tutorial.

You can zip through these lessons in no time, any time. They are very short and succinct; each can be read in a few minutes. Feel free to jump in wherever you like, skip what you don't want to read, and come back whenever you need to.

The information contained in the following lessons is truly "bare bones," designed to get you started in the right direction with a minimum of time and effort. For more comprehensive and detailed help on searching the Web, consult our recommended list of sites in Lesson 20 at the end of this tutorial.

NOTE: If you just want some quick SEARCH TIPS,
skip everything else and go directly to Lesson 7.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lesson 1: Search Engines: a Definition

Lesson 2: Metasearchers: a Definition

Lesson 3: Subject Directories: a Definition

Lesson 4: Library Gateways and Specialized Databases: a Definition

Lesson 5: Evaluating Web Pages

Lesson 6: Creating a Search Strategy

Lesson 7: Basic Search Tips

Lesson 8: Searching with Boolean Logic and Proximity Operators

Lesson 9: Field Searching

Lesson 10: Troubleshooting

Lesson 11: Ask Search Engine: A Closer Look

Lesson 12: Clusty Search Engine: A Closer Look

Lesson 13: Dogpile Metasearcher: A Closer Look

Lesson 14: Gigablast Metasearcher: A Closer Look

Lesson 15: Google Search Engine: A Closer Look

Lesson 16: MSN Directory / Search Engine: A Closer Look

Lesson 17: Yahoo! Directory / Search Engine: A Closer Look

Lesson 18: Graveyard for Dead Search Engines

Lesson 19: Final Exam

Lesson 20: Beyond "Bare Bones"

User Agreement
Bare Bones in Spanish

"Bare Bones 101" is managed and updated by Melanie Hanes-Ramos, Assistant Director of the USC Beaufort South Campus Library.
The tutorial was originally created in 2000 by Ellen Chamberlain while serving as the Library Director at the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus. She had previously co-authored BCK2SKOL, a tutorial on Internet basics that ran from 1995-2000. Although BCK2SKOL is no longer being updated, it is still available on the Web.

Search Engines

[Table of Contents] [Search Engines] [Metasearchers] [Subject Directories] [Gateways & Databases] [Evaluating Web Pages] [Search Strategies] [Search Tips] [Boolean Operators] [Field Searching] [Troubleshooting] [Ask] [Clusty] [Dogpile] [GigaBlast] [Google] [MSN Search] [Yahoo!] [Graveyard] [Final Exam] [Beyond Bones] [User Agreement]

Last updated by M. Hanes-Ramos,Thursday October 09, 2014