If you are getting too many search results, what can you use to narrow your search?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When you’re faced with an abundance of search results, you want to refine the query to target more specific content. 
Option 1: 'OR with a synonym' tends to broaden the search because OR expands results to include pages that contain either term, increasing the total set rather than reducing it. This can actually worsen the problem of too many results by pulling in more irrelevant items. 
Option 2: 'AND with another search term' tightens the criteria because it requires that both terms appear in the results. This intersection typically yields fewer, more relevant results, helping to narrow the search effectively. 
In practice, using AND is a common technique for precision, whereas OR is useful for casting a wider net when you’re trying to capture all possible variations of a concept. 
Additionally, synonyms introduced with OR can introduce semantically similar but slightly different ideas, which may reintroduce noise if the goal is precision. 
Overall, the strategy that reduces the result set by combining terms with AND aligns with narrowing the search, while OR with a synonym would not achieve that narrowing goal.

FSTA02H3 F LEC01 Library Quiz

If you are getting too many search results, what can you use to narrow your search?

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使用图书馆数据库时，建议您学习这些有助于缩小信息范围的搜索词（AND、OR 和 NOT），图书管理员称之为：

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FSTA02H3 F LEC01 Library Quiz

If you are getting too many search results, what can you use to narrow your search?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

4. To find articles about AI ethics in universities, which search statement is most effective?

2. Which Boolean operator is used to broaden a search by including either of two keywords?

2. Which Boolean operator is used to broaden a search by including either of two keywords?

2. Which Boolean operator is used to broaden a search by including either of two keywords?

Let's say that you are doing a keyword search in OneSearch to find recent articles about marine pollution. Which ONE of the following groups of search words would bring you the largest number of results? Select the BEST answer.

使用图书馆数据库时，建议您学习这些有助于缩小信息范围的搜索词（AND、OR 和 NOT），图书管理员称之为：

When using Library Databases, it is recommended you learn these search terms that help narrow information, (AND, OR, and NOT), which librarians call this:

To combine related key terms (e.g., free-text, controlled vocabulary), we use the Boolean operator _________ to __________ our search:

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Making Your Study Simpler

To combine related key terms (e.g., free-text, controlled vocabulary), we use the Boolean operator _ to __ our search: