Proximity+Searching+H


 * __Proximity Searching__**


 * __ "a __**__proximity search **looks for documents where two or more separately matching term occurrences are within a specified distance, where distance is the number of intermediate words or characters. In addition to proximity, some implementations may also impose a constraint on the word order, in that the order in the searched text must be identical to the order of the search query. Proximity searching goes beyond the simple matching of words by adding the constraint of proximity and is generally regarded as a form of advanced search." Wikipedia**__

Proximity: also called the NEAR operator     If you do online searching, Proximity Searching may save hours oftime and lots of frustration.
 *  Did i get this right? You want the meaning of proximity searching? **

If you are looking for a sequence of words that are normally connected, but that may be split by other words? If you were looking for information on the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, you could possibly search for a phrase, like this: "Thomas Alva Edison" But this search would not bring you pages where the name is given as Thomas A. Edison or Thomas Edison. You could solve this problem by entering "Thomas Alva Edison" OR "Thomas A. Edison" OR "Thomas Edison" or you could use the NEAR search operator. NEAR means "show me pages where these words are near each other". Thomas NEAR Edison How near is NEAR? That depends. In AltaVista the words used to be less than 10 words apart. dogs near/3 cats finds documents in which dog and cat occur within three words of each other, in either order." By altering the number, you can decide how far apart the keyword can be in order to be included in the results.

** How you can use your technique to improve the efficiency of your search process? ** Proximity searching is useful in research when looking for the most relevant resources available to your topic. For subjects such as history, where topics generate thousands of results that are mostly irrelevant, proximity searching allows the student to find a concise amount of information that includes specific words within a certain window of eachother.

For example, in searching for ‘polyurethane varnish’, resources that include information concerning such a product would not necessarily be worded in the same fashion. If one were using Google, proximity searching would allow for the amount of results generated to increase from 276,000 to 940,000, showing //all// relevant sources. In search engines with more advanced proximity searches, such as EBSCO, proximity searching allows for the results of more relevance to be found. In the same example of searching for ‘polyurethane varnish’, the results would decrease from 13 to 2. = = = = = = =**__Proximity Searching in Different Search Engines:__**=

**__World Book__**
World Book online does not have proximity searches.

**__ Proximity Searching in Google __** ==== Google does not have a proximity search within its search engine. However, it has an ordered search instead through a wildcard operator using asterisks (*). In Google, the asterisk can signify either one or more words. In other words “Google treats the * as a placeholder for a word or more than one word” (//Interactive Online Google Tutorial and References - Google Guide//). For example, [“I * in honey”] tells google to find the word “I” and “in honey” within a certain number of words from each other. An example Google would search for through the wildcard operator in place of the asterisk would be [“I’m interested in honey “] or [“I put shrooms in honey”]. This example is shown below: ====

Note: When putting the asterisk, spaces must be included, as the asterisk is counted as a word/multiple words.
====With the wildcard operator in the Google search engine, only websites containing (in this case) a sentence or line that starts with “I” and ends with “in honey” whilst only having a certain number of words within these two will be found like in the image above.====

There is also another method for proximity searching on Google: BOOLEAN is a system for logical operations, much like math! Symbols such as (+) can be used as an AND term which includes everything after the term into the results. Another symbol could be (-) which also means NOT, excluding words after the term in results. Adding the term OR searches for either the word or the word after but not both.


 * EBSCO**

Ebsco allows specific proximity searching down to the order in which chosen words appear and the number of words occurring between them.

The use of 'N' followed by a chosen number between two words, allows the user to search for words that occur within 'N' words of eachother, occurring in no particular order.

For example: Chicken n5 nuggets would generate a search that looked for phrases where 'chicken' and 'nuggets' occurred within 5 words of eachother, regardless of the order of their appearance.

//Results include: tasty nuggets made of chicken, chickens make nuggets.//

The use of 'W' followed by a chosen number between two words allows the user to search for words that occur within 'W' words of eachother, occurring in the designated order in which they appear.

For example: Chicken w5 nuggets would generate a search that looked for phrases where 'chicken' and 'nuggets' occurred within 5 words of eachother, matching the order in which they appear.

//Results include: chickens make nuggets// //Results **do not** include: tasty nuggets made of chicken//


 * UNITED STREAMING**

UNITED STREAMING uses the BOOLEAN method. BOOLEAN terms allow videos to narrow the searches.

BOOLEAN terms include : - **NEAR** //Words that are somewhat related to the search to an extend.// - **AND** //Searches including both topics. (eg, Ice AND cream will search videos about Ice cream)// - **OR** //Searches videos that are either one or the other. (eg, Ice OR cream will search videos about just ice or just cream)// - **NOT** //Searches topics that eliminate key words. (eg, Ice NOT icecaps, will eliminate a large portion of videos about icecaps)//

**1. Go to Advanced Search** [IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn296/reggiecide/Screenshot2010-10-05at102224AM.png[/IMG]

**2. Under "Find Results Matching" choose "Match Boolean query"** [IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn296/reggiecide/Screenshot2010-10-05at102224AM.png[/IMG]

"Boolean Search Guide." // Medzilla;Biotech Jobs, Pharmaceutical Jobs, Pharmaceutical Sales Jobs, Health Care Jobs:Medical Career, Job Board, Biopharmaceutical Jobs, Medical Job Search, Science Job, Healthcare, Jobs and Biotechnology Career //. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. . Blachman, By Nancy. "Google's * Wildcard Operator - Google Guide." //Interactive Online Google Tutorial and References - Google Guide//. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://www.googleguide.com/wildcard_operator.html>. "Proximity Search (text)." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_search_(text)>.
 * Works Cited List**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">Evangel University Library Staff, comp. // Information Sources: Proximity Searching and Google Searching //. Springfield: Evangel University, 2010. Print. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px;">// Welcome to Discovery Education //. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://my.discoveryeducation.com/>. **