Searching through an index involves a user building a query and finally submitting it through the search engine.

The query can be any thing from a simple and a single word to a couple of words together.

Complex queries involve the help of Boolean operators. Boolean operators allow the users to filter and extend the terms of the search.

And, OR, Not, followed by and near are the most frequently seen Booleans. ]

And

All the terms joined by this Boolean must appear in the pages or documents. Some search engines substitute the operator “t” for the Boolean ‘AND’.

OR
One of the terms joined by this Boolean must appear in the pages or documents.

Not

The term following this Boolean must not appear in the pages.

Followed by

One of the terms must be followed by the other.

Near

One of the terms is supposed to be within a specified number of words of the other.

Future search:

Real searches are the searches defined by Boolean operators. The search engine finds the words exactly in the form in which they are entered.

This leads to major problems when a word has multiple meanings. For instance the word ‘Bolster’ can be related to a cushion that supports you while seated on a chair and it can also be referred to the support offered by one person to the other. If a user is looking for only one of the above meaning, he must build a literal search. It refers to a search that removes unwanted meanings.

Search engine also adopt the process of concept-based searching. This type of research include statistical analysis on pages containing the words or phases you searched for.

For better results, search engines have adopted the method of natural-language queries. Natural-language queries involve the user typing a question in a way he/she would ask it to a person sitting beside him/her. This does involve keeping a track of Boolean operators or complex query structures.

Ask Jeeves.com is the most popular natural language query site. The site phases the query for keywords and then applies to the index of sites it has developed.

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