2. What do we search?
Topic
Key words
Similar words
2
3. Types of Search Tools
Search engines
Directories
Meta-search engines
Other resources
3
4. Search Engines
A Web page that finds other Web pages
To use:
Enter a keyword or search expression and
click a button
Review search results
If desired, refine the search
4
5. Cont’d…
5
Designed to assist you in searching through the
enormous amount of information on the Web
No single search tool has everything
Each engine is a large database which utilizes
different search techniques and tools (spiders or
robots) to build indexes to the Internet (some
also utilize submissions and administration)
6. Cont’d…
6
Searches for matching terms (keywords
or several keywords)
Results “ranked” by relevancy (for
some)
Can search by
subject or category
keyword
7. Directories
A list of hyperlinks organized into
categories
To use:
Click on the category link to display links
within the category
Continue to click more specific links until you
locate the subject of your search
7
9. Search Engines vs.
Directories
Search Engines
Computer built index of
information on web
More inclusive
Used to find specific
resources
Searchable by keyword
Excessive “hits”
Every page of a Website is
indexed
Better for general searches,
but can be used to find
specific information
Directories
Human aided, organized list
May be general or subject-
specific
May be able to “search”
directory
User has control of browsing
Fixed vocabulary
Links go to Website home
pages only
Better at general searches
9
10. Meta-Search Engines
Search tools that submit a search to more
than one engine at a time.
To use:
Enter a keyword or search expression
Specify which search engines to use
Review search results from each engine
10
12. Searching Vs. Browsing
Searching
Tool to search the
information
Looking for
information
Finding a particular
thing
Browser
Tool to browse the
internet
Scanning the world
wide web
Looking for the
website or web
pages
12
14. Alternative Approaches
Reword the search
Switch to a different search engine
Go straight to a known, reliable web site
14
15. Boolean Operators
A system of logical operators that allow
you to specify relationships between
search words
To use:
Use AND to find all search terms
Use OR to find either search term
Use NOT to eliminate some portion of search
results for the keyword
15
16. Cont’d…
AND
OR
NOT
( ) Parentheses
and quotes
+ Plus sign
* Asterisk
16
17. Examples . . .
AND
(Narrows search and the search engine
looks for information that contains all of
your keywords even if they are not next to
each other)
Industrial AND pollution
Biology AND molecular
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18. Examples . . .
OR
College OR university
(will return results with either word)
OR logic collates the results to retrieve all the
unique records containing one term, the other
term or both.
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19. Examples . . .
NOT
Media NOT television
Returns results with websites having the word
Media and NOT television.
Only one of the terms will be present.
Not logic excludes records from search results.
19
20. Parentheses and Quotes
“Putting parentheses or quotes around a set
of keywords will force the engine to match
the entire word or phrase as it stands.
When you use a + after a phrase, followed
immediately by a keyword, the search
gets even more specific.”
20
Ex.: “carpal tunnel syndrome”
+treatment
21. Searching Tips
1. Set the search tool to display the smallest
number of results (10).
2. Use at least three search engines to do a
preliminary search.
3. Search using lower case letters.
4. Use near. Example Albert near Einstein.
Source: Mautner, Christopher. Educator’s Internet Companion, p. 141.
21
22. Tips Cont’d…
always check the Help facility
be prepared to do many searches using
different keywords
use keywords from your previous search
results
the more operators and limits you use,
the more relevant your results will be
22
23. Evaluating your results
are they….. what about…
relevant? coverage?
accurate? authority?
current? content?
good quality? sources?
23
24. Examples of Search
Engines
UK - includes Yahoo! UK and Ireland
worldwide - includes Yahoo!, Alta Vista,
Ask Jeeves, Google, Go.com
metasearch engines (searches the
search engines) - includes Mamma,
Metacrawler, Copernic
directory-based - Yellow Pages, Scoot
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28. Selected Subject-Specific
Engines28
Jobs
Hotjobs.com (http://www.hotjobs.com/)
Monster.com (http://www.monster.com/)
The Riley Guide (http://www.rileyguide.com/)
Games
CNET Gamecenter.com
(http://www.gamecenter.com/)
Games Domain
(http://www.gamesdomain.com/)
Gamesmania (http://www.gamesmania.com/)
29. Selected Subject-Specific
Engines29
Software
Jumbo (http://www.jumbo.com)
Shareware.com (http://www.shareware.com)
ZDNet Downloads
(http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/)
Health/Medicine
Achoo (http://www.achoo.com/)
BioMedNet (http://www.bmn.com/)
Combined Health Information Database
(http://chid.nih.gov/)
Mayo Clinic Health Oasis (http://www.mayohealth.org/)
30. Selected Subject-Specific
Engines30
Education/Children's Sites
AOL NetFind Kids Only
(http://www.aol.com/netfind/kids/)
Blue Web'n
(http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/)
Education World (http://www.education-
world.com/)
Kid Info (http://www.kidinfo.com/)
Kids Domain (http://www.kidsdomain.com)
KidsClick!
(http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/)
31. Benefits of Using Search
Engines
Larger, billions of records in their
databases
No human selectivity of data
Are designed for searching, not browsing
A “search engine” is actually a service that
“facilitates” searching
31
