While much of the literature addresses features of specific search tools at the moment, this article is meant to be a long-term guide for using and evaluating all searching resources. To become more familiar with these search resources, it is helpful to understand what types of tools are available and how they work. There are some common features that can be found in many of the search tools available. Generally, these sites have options for basic and advanced searching. The advanced search option will appeal to many librarians who use Boolean queries with online databases and catalogs.
Many tools allow for truncation, usually represented by an asterisk.
All of the search engines default in basic and advanced searching to a pre-set type of search, if no options are selected by the user. It is important to know what type of search is being done in order to underst-and the results retrieved. If the default option is not indicated on the initial search screen, this information is usually available on the help pages for these tools. Subject guides tend to be strongest in the area of indexing information by subject category, although they may include a feature which allows you to search across or among the categories. It can be particularly helpful to use a subject guide when looking for a specific site or topic.