A discussion is provided of the value of patent searches, which can be costly and lengthy, but is worth the cost they have knowledge of the sources of information and the science and technology being searched; can write capture search strategy for currently used search engines and databases; can cull quickly; and can analyze patterns in the retained information. Topics covered include the difficulties of explaining searching; the tasks performed by searchers; infringement searching; the capture; the cull, which is needed because capture methods are very noisy; inside-out and outside-in searches; why searching is can be very time-consuming; and strategies for reducing the monotony of having to cull considerable amounts of material and in the process cut costs. For instance, information vendors Questel Orbit, STN, and Dialog, as well as database producers Derwent, API, and IFI, are always advertising improvements. New methods for indexing, new index terms, methods of ranking and visualizing, quicker document delivery, new Internet search tools, and full-text literature are adding value. The mechanics of writing online search strategy is highly dynamic as search engines involve. Searchers are always trying new software, but software that captures relevant material without capturing any irrelevant material are in the realm of hope only, but searchers still earn their pay by bringing order in the midst of information chaos faster than the client can.