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Search Operators and Evaluating Sources

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Key points

  • No space after the colon in site: filetype: inurl: or intitle:
  • OR and AND must be written in capitals
  • Quotation marks fix both the words and their order
  • The minus sign excludes a term, with a space before it and none after
  • Every operator narrows results except OR, which widens them
  • intitle: applies to one word; allintitle: applies to all the words after it
  • Prefer primary sources on .gov.in, .nic.in or .ac.in for official work
On this page
  1. Search operators
  2. Widening and narrowing
  3. The minus sign
  4. Judging a source for official use

Search operators

OperatorFunctionExample
Quotation marksExact phrase, in that exact order"assistant registrar recruitment"
Minus signExcludes a termregistrar -film
OR in capitalsEither termGFR OR "General Financial Rules"
AND in capitalsBoth terms, applied by default anywayGeM AND tender
site:Restricts to one site or domainsite:example.gov.in
filetype: or ext:Restricts to a file formatrecruitment filetype:pdf
inurl:Term must appear in the URLinurl:recruitment
intitle:Term must appear in the page titleintitle:"office memorandum"
intext:Term must appear in the body textintext:"utilisation certificate"
allintitle: / allinurl:All terms in the title or URLallintitle: assistant registrar
related:Sites similar to a given siterelated:example.gov.in
define:Definition of a worddefine:sanction
AsteriskWildcard for an unknown word"leave travel * rules"
Two dotsNumber or date rangerecruitment 2020..2026

Key point

There must be no space after the colon. site: example.gov.in with a space does not work; site:example.gov.in does. OR and AND must be typed in capitals, or they are treated as ordinary words.

Widening and narrowing

Every operator narrows the results except OR, which widens them. Quotation marks narrow the most, because they fix both the words and their order.

Example

To find only PDF copies of office memoranda on a particular government site, combine all three parts: site:example.gov.in "leave travel concession" filetype:pdf

The minus sign

Leave a space before the minus sign and none after it. Searching registrar -film removes film-related results, while registrar OR film would increase them.

Judging a source for official use

  • Check the domain. A .gov.in, .nic.in or .ac.in address is more dependable than a blog.
  • Check the date, the order number and whether any amendment has followed.
  • Rely on the primary document. A news report or blog summary must not be cited in a note.
  • Verify any rule number taken from a search summary or an AI tool against the original order.

Exam tip

In syntax questions, look at the spacing first. Any option with a space after the colon can be eliminated before you read the rest of it.

Practice questions

Answer all, then check. Explanations appear after checking.

1Which search operator is used to restrict results to a single website or domain?
2To search for an exact phrase, the search terms should be enclosed in:
3An assistant searching for registrar gets many results about film registrars. Which query best excludes the unwanted results?
4An officer wants only PDF copies of office memoranda on leave travel concession from a particular government website. Which query is most appropriate?
5Consider: 1. Adding more search operators generally narrows the results. 2. The OR operator broadens the results. 3. Quotation marks search for the words in any order. Which are correct?

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