Guide to the Internet - Using Fields

Fields specify where the search words must appear within the web page. You will have to consult the help file for each search engine to use this, as each engine offers different fields. I recommend using field searching at AltaVista when starting, because of the excellent documentation. The table below give some tips on possible applications for field searches. The two that I find the most useful are title: (for improving relevance) and the link: reverse surfing method.

Field	Description	Use
title:"search engine" + guide	title: page title (seen in the bar at the top of your browser window) must contain this text	Improving the relevance of hits. A page with your keyword in the title is more likely to be relevant
domain:uk +medical +"search engine"	domain: specify .uk if you just want websites located in the UK	Restricting a search to a particular country or to a particular type of site (e.g. domain:edu)
host:doh.gov.uk +"clinical governance"	host: page must be located on a specified server e.g. if you want to search the Department of Health server you would use host:doh.gov.uk	For exploring a large website, particularly if the site's own search facilities are poor.
link:shef.ac.uk/~scharr/ ir/netting.htm	link: page must contain a hyperlink for which at least one of the words in the destination address begins with specified text	This field is useful in reverse surfing. Instead of the usual method of Internet travel, which is to click on a link and move to it, we are interested in how we potentially might have reached the site where we currently are. If you have found a site which is relevant to your needs, then sites which link to it may also be of use.
url:nyro	url: pages with specified text anywhere within the url, e.g. url:uk will find http://www.doh. gov.uk/dhhome.htm as well as http://www.uk/	Useful if you are looking for a site previously visited, and can only remember part of the address.
image:blair	image: page must contain an image whose file name contains the specified text	When looking for a particular image, or a picture of someone.
text:"search engine"	text: text on the page must contain the search words