Search Hints for UNISONScotland
This Google service searches the UNISONScotland website.
The site is catalogued regularly by Google but not immediately
after changes so they sometimes take a few days to show. It
is therefore also a good idea to check the press
releases, responses,
briefings and updates
pages.
Google Search Hints
To enter a query into Google, just type in a few descriptive
words and hit the 'enter' key (or click on the Google Search
button) for a list of relevant web pages.
Since Google only returns web pages that contain all the
words in your query, refining or narrowing your search is
as simple as adding more words to the search terms you have
already entered. Your new query will return a smaller subset
of the pages Google found for your original "too-broad" query.
Choosing Keywords
For best results, it's important to choose your keywords
wisely. Keep these tips in mind: Try the obvious first. If
you're looking for information on Picasso, enter "Picasso"
rather than "painters". Use words likely to appear on a site
with the information you want. "Luxury hotel dubuque" gets
better results than "really nice places to spend the night
in Dubuque". Make keywords as specific as possible. "Antique
lead soldiers" gets more relevant results than "old metal
toys".
Queries
By default, Google only returns pages that include all of
your search terms. There is no need to include "and" between
terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are
typed will affect the search results. To restrict a search
further, just include more terms.
Automatic Exclusion of Common Words
Google ignores common words and characters such as "where"
and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters,
because they tend to slow down your search without improving
the results. Google will indicate if a common word has been
excluded by displaying details on the results page below the
search box.
If a common word is essential to getting the results you
want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of
it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.) Another
method for doing this is conducting a phrase search, which
simply means putting quotation marks around two or more words.
Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are you") are
included in the search.
Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless
of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For
example, searches for "george washington", "George Washington",
and "gEoRgE wAsHiNgToN" will all return the same results.
Word Variations (Stemming)
Google now uses stemming technology. Thus, when appropriate,
it will search not only for your search terms, but also for
words that are similar to some or all of those terms. If you
search for "pet lemur dietary needs", Google will also search
for "pet lemur diet needs", and other related variations of
your terms. Any variants of your terms that were searched
for will be highlighted in the snippet of text accompanying
each result.
