Searching the Web

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Searching the Web

• Presentation for
• Master Internet VolunteerSM Program

North Dakota State University Extension Service
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Search Tools

• Two types
• directories
• indexes or search engines
• Hundreds of them!
• Updated daily
• Several different searching techniques

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Directories

• List sites categorized by topic by humans
• May not be obvious to every user
• May require you to work your way through a number
  of levels

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Use a directory when you...

• Are starting with a broad topic or idea
• Want to see sites recommended by humans
• Want to avoid low-content documents that often
  result from index searches

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Directory examples

• Yahoo (for adults) http//www.yahoo.com
• Yahooligans (for kids) http//www.yahooligans.com

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Indexes (aka Search Engines)

• Sites are automatically indexed by keywords by
  search engine spiders
• Many entries
• Can be more difficult to limit search
• AltaVista http//www.altavista.com

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Use a search engine when you...

• Have a narrow topic or idea
• Are looking for a specific site
• Want a large number of documents
• Want to search for types of documents, file
  types, source locations, languages, etc.

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Some popular search sites

• Infoseek - http//www.infoseek.com
• Lycos - http//www.lycos.com
• Hotbot - http//www.hotbot.com
• Excite - http//www.excite.com
• Google - http//www.google.com
• Ask Jeeves - http//www.askjeeves.com
• Ask Jeeves for Kids http//www.ajkids.com

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Metasearch Engines

• Search a number of single engines and returns
  results to one page
• Reformat your query for each engines
  requirements
• Metacrawler http//www.metacrawler.com
• DogPile http//www.dogpile.com

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Specialized Search Tools

• People - http//www.whowhere.com
• Newsgroups - http//groups.google.com
• International Index for Search Engines -
  http//www.searchenginecolossus.com
• Educational Study Guide - http//www.studyweb.com
  
• Geneology - http//www.familysearch.org

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Searching Tips

• Read the help or search tips pages provided
  by each search engine
• Use specific keywords
• dog (too general) spaniel (more specific)
• Use capitalization to narrow search
• Spaniel returns fewer than spaniel
• Wildcards finds different spellings

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Using Search Engines

• Phrase searching use quotation marks for exact
  phrase water spaniel
• Field Searching Search based on where term
  appears in document
• titlephrase finds titles that contain that
  phrase
• linkany url finds pages with links to a
  specific site

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Best Bet Search Syntax

• Put a plus sign () in front of all words you
  want to retrieve
• trees poplar
• Put a minus sign (-) in front of all words you
  dont want
• trees -poplar
• Demonstrate using AltaVista

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Best Bet Search Syntax

• Place phrases within double quotations
• freedom of the press
• Putting it all together
• drug policy United States
• Demonstrate using AltaVista

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Boolean Search TermsAND, OR, NOT
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Boolean Search TermsAND, OR, NOT
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Boolean Search TermsAND, OR, NOT
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Evaluating Quality

• Accuracy Is the information reliable and free
  from errors?
• Authority Who is the author, and is he/she
  qualified to write about the topic?

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Evaluating Quality (contd)

• Objectivity - Is there evidence of bias or overt
  attempts to persuade?
• Currency - How up-to-date is the information?
• Example

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Master Internet VolunteerSM Programwww.ext.nodak
.edu/miv/
This slide set was originally prepared by the
University of Minnesota Master Internet Volunteer
program leaders and has been modified with their
permission.