The strategies needed to hunt for information build on a long human tradition. Searchers have added to their own intelligence by using specialized tools and assistants that have better ability to find, move fast, reach and hold. For example, game hunters used dogs, falcons, traps, spears and more. As culture shifted from hunter-gatherer to market societies, growing families and businesses needed similar abilities in finding the right products and materials. These market hunters used sales agents, catalogs, product reviews and more. The economy of the 21st century is based on knowledge. Though what one hunts and how it is hunted with digital assistants in databases are different, wellness and prosperity still depend on similar strategies in directing the hunt for information.

Effective hunting strategy involves exploring and observing. Hunters need to get a quick sense of what is available, learning which opportunities exist that match their interests, noting better places to hunt, and then prioritizing their goals.

Browsing options allow users to select and explore, to create their own paths through the major divisions of in a search system. In contrast, search options provide ways to immediately jump to a given place in the information system without reading and navigating through the options.

Browsing capabilities change with each type of hunt. A rider on a horse might browse a territory. A shopper might walk the stores in a mall. A digital searcher might read randomly within the information, but effective browsing should lead some distance down each of the paths available, reading the signs and maps that give further explanation. The end result of effective browsing is gaining a sense of direction, including thoughts about what might be of interest to explore further. It could also be identifying an unanswered question that needs further research.

Game hunters use cloth sacks and market shoppers use paper and plastic bags. Computer systems also have a simple, basic way to capture and store the results of a search. This includes printing information as it is found, but this is expensive and time-consuming. A more effective approach is to highlight and copy not only the information but the identity of the source of the information. Then it can be easily be pasted into a word processor and saved to a file.

The searchable knowledge stored in databases is made up of patterns of symbols. Digital databases store characters (such as letters and numbers), which might link with stored sounds, pictures, video and more. Searchers benefit from some planning. Digital hunters define search terms, listing the most important related words before the search begins, then changing terms as a search continues. A thesaurus becomes a powerful tool in finding related words that would not otherwise be easily found. This brainstorming activity is also fun to do with a team.

The process of using keywords begins with a Keyword Search. To better understand a keyword search more needs to be known about the structure of databases. A database is made of records that contain fields. For example, each book in a library becomes a record in a database that contains fields like author, title, publisher, and year of publication. In the same way each product in a store’s database would have a title, product number, cost and description. Generally, a keyword search asks a database to search every word of every field of every record in the database.

When a keyword search does not return what is needed, more advanced searches are required. A search may return too much information or too little information, no information or even the wrong or unrelated information. Fixing this can be as simple as using different search terms in the next search but it often requires more advanced features and commands. Some of the many advanced techniques include guided searches that reach into selected fields or set date restrictions limiting the search to certain years.

Many searches return information that is useful but needs organizing. A search of products will be more useful if items are sorted in order of lowest prices to highest. Sorting information by date would increase the value of historical information. When some useful information is found, a more refined search can be created by using Boolean logic terms such as AND and OR. These terms are used to solve problems when too much or too little information has been found.

The question of quality has been with hunters forever. With data searching, the accuracy of found information must be considered. Quality is determined in part by the expertise and neutrality of the authors of the database. But even creators of databases of considerable authority, including important commercial, medical and government databases accept that all databases contain errors to some degree. A certain skepticism about the credibility of information found in all databases should be maintained. The most effective strategy to deal with the problem of credibility is to check with more than one source. A major advantage provided by digital computer networks is that such checking has become significantly easier and faster to do.

Sometimes the information found is not as complete or as understandable as desired. These are appropriate reasons to seek more data. There are often directions within the set of information that point to related or similar data using cross-references and additional resource headings.

At some point, a hunter needs to stop hunting and feast. In the knowledge economy there are many reasons to stop searching and digest the findings into a report. Stopping might occur because enough information has been found or some end date on a calendar has been reached. If along the way the sources disagree, simply report the disagreement and cite the sources.

If the information found meets the needs of the search and is believed reasonably accurate, it is time to move on to the equally exciting stage of using the data. Game catchers cleaned and cooked their captures. Digital hunters clean and digest their findings using higher order thinking skills. The ultimate goal is to make sense of the best of what is available.