Choosing keywords

Picking the best keyword or list of keywords can make a big difference when searching the Internet. As you learn to use better lists of key words, you will find that the information you are looking for will be easier to locate. 

When you type the keywords into a search box, enter only keywords and avoid linking words. 

• For example: if you want to learn about weather patterns in the rainforest, enter only the keywords and skip linking words- 

If you want to find information on a subject that uses two or more words (like a title of a book) use quotation marks to link the words. This technique avoids listing pages that use each word separately. 

• For example: if you want to learn about African Violets, use quotation marks-

Increase the number of keywords to locate more specific information. If you end up with no results from the search, reduce the number of words until you locate what you need. 

• For example: if you search on the word fish you will get thousands of suggested links. If you add more words to your search, you will locate more specific information and have less links to review.

There are other ways to search using keywords that require advanced techniques. 

What's in a name?

Just what is in a name? For science it is often the difference between the common name - like English Violet and the scientific name, Viola odorata. Most scientists use the scientific name when writing about a plant or animal. So if you want to learn more about English Violets, you are going to have better luck using the scientific name as a one of your keywords.

What is a scientific name and how is it used? 

Most scientific names are based in the Latin language and are sometimes called Latin binomials. Each scientific name has two parts, genus and specific epithet. For example, human beings are called Homo sapiens. Why have two names? Having two names helps to better identify a plant or animal. You can think of them as first and last names. If you want to find someone a the phone book that listed only first names you would not be able to narrow your search very much. All the Janes and Georges would be lumped together. The same would be true for only last names. However, if you use both first and last names the list is much shorter. 

Why use scientific names?

Finding scientific names or classification for a plant or animal

You probably have seen taxonomic listings before. They are the ones that look like what you see in the table below. You might think that scientists have these all memorized, but most of them know only a few and consult textbooks for information on others.

• the results would be some links to web pages that would list the scientific name and all or part of the classification. Here are the results from one page.