In Search of Expertise (Part 2): Do You Speak Boolean?

“Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice.” -- Bill Watterson (American Author of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, b.1958)

LinkedIn’s advanced search form is very good.  You can make it work even better by using Boolean search strings. Shown below are the number of hits returned from six search strings that were entered into the Keyword box.

LinkedIn Advanced Key Word Search

4	scientist dibenzothiophene
91	scientist (desulfurization OR dibenzothiophene)
859	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR dibenzothiophene)
868	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)
967	scientist (sulfur OR desulfurization OR thiophene OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)
4081	(scientist OR engineer) (sulfur OR desulfurization OR thiophene OR benzothiophene OR dibenzothiophene)

See what power lies in the use of parentheses and OR. 

If your first search yields too few hits, throw a wider net with more key words, connected by OR and nested between parentheses.

Conversely, if you net too many results, remove some key words from the search string.

TIP #1: I find it easier to compose complex search strings in Word or Notepad, and then copy and paste into the LinkedIn Keyword search box.

TIP #2: Save the search strings for future use.  It will save some typing.

TIP #3: Invite me to join your LinkedIn network.  You can find me at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch