Information for Health Care Workers

Find relevant information more quickly by using the following tips.

• Search using keywords not sentences or questions. 

Instead of  What are the various types of dementia? use  types dementia

• Use the terms that you would to expect to find on the website.

Search with headache instead of  head hurts 

• Be specific.

Instead of arthritis use rheumatoid arthritis

• Search phrases by using quotation marks " " . The words will be searched exactly how you entered them.

Searching with the terms patient workshops will find websites that offer workshops on patient safety. To limit the results to workshops for patients use "patient workshops".

Choose websites that contain quality information. Go to Evaluating Websites for tips.

If you can't find the information you need try a different search engine. Here are three of the most popular:

The following tips are used with Google. Other search engines will have their own shortcuts. Check their help pages.

• Exclude a word by using the minus sign (hyphen). Example: your search for memory tests is pulling up methods of evaluating a computer's memory.

Use memory test -computer

• Search within a website. Enter the word site: followed by the website address. Don't put in any spaces. Example: your co-worker mentioned an iniative called The Way Forward that she read about on the Candian Nurse website. 

Search: site:www.canadian-nurse.com "the way forward"

• Use Google's advanced search feature by clicking on the gear symbol at the top right of the results page.