How to Effectively Search the Web with Lycos

Lycos is a powerful search engine; it is a regularly updated database of Web pages. By learning to use the many search features available on Lycos, you can quickly find almost any kind of information available on the Internet.

General Searching

You can access Lycos with most Internet browsers, and the basic search interface is simple:

• Type in the words that interest you in the box next to Search for.
• Now press the Enter key or click the Go Get It button.

Lycos will present you with all the Web pages that contain the words that you requested. We have found that Lycos does a good job of presenting the most relevant matches to a query on the first few pages, but you will probably get a huge list of Web pages. There are many ways to both limit and expand your search. The general search interface allows you to:

• Use the pulldown menu, just below the Search for box, to select specific kinds of information to search. This is useful if you have a good idea of what you are looking for.
• Require that a word is on the pages searched by preceding the word with a "+"
• Require that a word is not on the pages searched by preceding the word with a "–": i.e., +eclipse –lunar
• Require an exact match of the phrase on the pages searched by putting the phrase in quotation marks: i.e., "How to Effectively Search the Web with Lycos"

You can also search the results of any other search.

• After an initial search has been made, go to the bottom of the results page.
• Enter the words you wish to look for in the first blue box, and click the Search these Results button.

Searching results is an easy way to target a specific piece of information. All the search functions previously described work when searching the results of another query.

Advanced Searching

The Advanced Searching interface on Lycos is also a useful tool; it can be accessed by clicking the Advanced Searching button near the top of the page. This interface allows you to:

• Select how the words should appear in the pages searched, by using the pulldown menu next to for: i.e., All the words (an AND search) Any of the Words (an OR search)
• Select criteria for the results of your query by clicking the Power Panel button.

The Power Panel interface will open just below the Advanced Searching box.

• There are certain categories which can be given a rating of Low, Medium or High. These are set by clicking the circle in the row of the category and in the column of the given rating you want to give that category.
• Categories include: frequency of the words on the page, words appearing in text, words appearing in title, and words close together. The information you give Lycos via the Power Panel determines which pages will be near the top of the list given for a query. The Quick Reference button at the bottom of the box will open another browser window. The window will contain descriptions of commands that can be typed into the Search box.