Web Search Tips and Tricks

Search Tips and Tricks

In October 2018, UTMB Health began using a new search appliance to index and provide search results for its university-hosted web content (both public and intranet content). The search tool works like any other web search. However, below are some advanced features to help users make the most of the tool.

NOTE: UTMB's search appliance only indexes and delivers results from UTMB web sites. If you are looking for content or information from non-UTMB sites, use the external search function built into your web browser, or try one of the search engines linked to this page.

Advanced and Custom Searches

User example	Finds all files that...
Anatomy test	contain the words Anatomy and test.
elbow (extension:doc OR extension:xls OR extension:msg)	contain the word elbow and have the file ending .doc, .xls or .msg.
"Working Together to Work Wonders"	contain the exact phrase Working Together to Work Wonders.
"Research" AND "budget"	contain the words Research and budget.
("Research" OR "budget") "Software"	contain the word Research or budget and the word software.
Facilities NEAR Environmental	contain the word Facilities near the word Environmental.
Field House NOT softball	contain the word Field House but not the word softball.
content:1550 TO 2000	contain numbers between 1550 and 2000 in the content.
mes:size:[1KB TO 4KB]	has a size between 1 KB and 4 KB.
mes:date:[2012-01-01 TO 2012-12-31]	has a date between 2012-01-01 and 2012-12-31.
(Mail Services^2.0 OR "Purchasing") AND "contacts"	contain Mail Services or Purchasing and contacts. Occurrence of "Mail Services" carries twice the search relevance or weight as other terms.

Visit Search Site

Project Background

External Search Sites

Google: The largest and most frequently used search engine.

Bing: Microsoft's contribution to search, and the second most popular U.S. search engine.

Duck Duck Go: This tool doesn’t collect, store, or pass on any personal information about its users.

CC Search: A tool specifically for finding copyright-free content

Internet Archive: A vast collection of material – including the Wayback Machine, a tool which has been taking snapshots of the web for decades.

On a web page, "metadata" is information included in the code of a page that does not display to site visitors, but provides important descriptions and categorizes content for search and other applications. Metadata, if it is properly deployed on a web page (not all fields commonly are), can be a handy way to find and sort content.

Familiar Metadata Search	Meaning	What you enter in the search field
title	Name	title:Institutional Handbook of Operational Procedures
extension	File ending	extension:doc
directory	Directory	directory:review
subject	Subject	subject:The Road Ahead
from	From	from:Callender
to	To	to:Callender
url	Web address	url:"www.utmbhealth.com"
content	(not displayed)	content:search content:server
Combination of metadata		title:Memorandum from:Smith extension:doc

The secret to search success?

The pages you are looking for need:

A meaningful page title, specific to each page; "Home" doesn't cut it
Well thought-out keywords for each page
A detailed, concise description for each page

We're working with site developers to ensure these items are in place on their pages. Learn more.

Featured Link Request

We have the ability to manually associate certain terms or phrases with a specific web page, and to force that page to display at the top of the search results when those associated terms and phrases are used in a search. This process of keyword matching is called "Featured Links" at UTMB. Learn more and make a request.