Just realized my whole approach to finding answers changed after a weird night at the library

I used to just type my whole messy question into a search bar, like 'why does my cat stare at the wall and meow at 3am', and get a million weird results. Last Tuesday, I spent two hours at the downtown branch trying to find a book on plumbing, but the librarian showed me how to break my problem into specific keywords, which worked way faster. Has anyone else had a moment that made them totally change how they look for information?

4 comments

4 Comments

hannahcraig1mo agoMost Upvoted

That bit about dust motes in the moonlight is weirdly sweet. My turning point was trying to fix a wobbly ceiling fan. I typed in "fan sounds like a helicopter is landing in my living room" and got a video about balancing bird wings. The actual fix was just tightening one screw, but I learned a lot about avian aerodynamics.

jenny_lane121mo ago

Totally get the librarian's tip, but honestly, I never stopped just typing my whole messy question into the search bar. It works for me, especially with Google getting better at understanding natural language. I found my cat's weird 3am thing was just him seeing dust motes in the moonlight.

torres.blair1mo agoMost Upvoted

Right? I do the same thing with my dog. How do you even start to search for "dog spins in circles before lying down" without just typing the whole weird thing? I got a full article on canine nesting instincts from one of those rambling searches.

morgan.jason12d ago

You said searching "dog spins in circles before lying down" and got results, but I gotta push back a little. I think most of the time just typing the whole weird thing makes the search engine work against you. Google tries to match every word you said exactly, so instead of getting "canine spinning ritual," you get some random BuzzFeed article about weird dog habits that barely mentions the nesting part. It's better to strip it down to like two or three key terms, even if it feels less natural.