General Search Engine Tips: Generally, search statements are not case sensitive. Two-word searches are treated as an exact phrase. In the case of longer phrases, they are searched in proximity. Quotation marks should be used to search for exact phrases. During browsing, a lot of time is wasted looking for something. This is a gross waste of time that can be prevented. But here are six ways to cut down on the time you spend looking for something (Elliot, 2005). • By being precise or using an exact phrase, one can be surer to get the answer one is looking for. "This helps you find an exact phrase on a Web page and will usually lead to the information you are looking for very quickly," says Rich Kahn, chief operating officer for BlowSearch, a New York-based meta-search engine. Use of quotations marks helps the internet user to be more precise. • Boolean search terms allow the user to get even more precise with queries. The three main search terms — "AND," "NOT" and "OR" — enable the user to include or exclude certain terms in the results. Full Boolean search terms can really speed up the search. Boolean searching, is named after British-born Irish mathematician George Boole, a 19th-century scholar who pioneered the use of "and," "not" and "or" in mathematical analysis. • Implied Boolean makes the search operation faster. For example, in order to search for Henry Ford and his role as benefactor, one can use a plus sign (+), such as "Henry Ford" + benefactor. • Nesting helps when the user is not really sure about what he is searching for. Nesting means the use of more than one Boolean operator as in “Christopher OR Chris AND Elliott OR Elliot” • Many search engines allow the user to use advanced terms or special symbols such as #, *, ? • For complicated searches, it is advisable to get more options and add more details to the search. "Look for advanced parametric searching," advises Scott Virkler, vice president for Global Spec, a Troy, N.Y., search engineering company. For example, on MSN Search, check "Search Builder" for more options. It lets you specify which sites to search, page rankings and language. Though these tips are generally found useful, practice makes searching more and more effective. .