Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 An introduction to effective internet searching Lorraine Sperring Learning & Teaching Resources Adviser

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Handy hints and tasty tips Become familiar with a couple of search engines rather than trying loads of them Become familiar with a couple of search engines rather than trying loads of them Use the help offered within the individual search engines to refine your search Use the help offered within the individual search engines to refine your search Make sure you understand which default the search engine uses, i.e. when you enter two or more search terms whether it combines them using ‘or’ or ‘and’ Make sure you understand which default the search engine uses, i.e. when you enter two or more search terms whether it combines them using ‘or’ or ‘and’

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Be as specific as possible to reduce the number of hits, i.e. amend your search by adding additional terms Be as specific as possible to reduce the number of hits, i.e. amend your search by adding additional terms If you get too few hits, check your spelling; consider using truncation (usually ‘*’ ) or an ‘or’ search If you get too few hits, check your spelling; consider using truncation (usually ‘*’ ) or an ‘or’ search Generally the most plausible results are listed first. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the first couple of pages, try amending your search Generally the most plausible results are listed first. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the first couple of pages, try amending your search

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 No search engine indexes the entire Web. The fact that you haven’t found something does NOT mean it’s not out there somewhere. Try a different search engine, a metasearch engine or consider using a subject gateway No search engine indexes the entire Web. The fact that you haven’t found something does NOT mean it’s not out there somewhere. Try a different search engine, a metasearch engine or consider using a subject gateway

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Metasearch engines Because all engines index the Web differently you will get the best results by using more than one search engine. Metasearch engines are useful because they sent your query to several different search engines at once and collate the results Because all engines index the Web differently you will get the best results by using more than one search engine. Metasearch engines are useful because they sent your query to several different search engines at once and collate the results

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Examples Metacrawler - – long established and popular Metacrawler - – long established and popular Ask Jeeves - – accepts your question in plain English, but can give irrelevant results Ask Jeeves - – accepts your question in plain English, but can give irrelevant resultshttp:// Dogpile returns results from 10 leading search engines. Dogpile returns results from 10 leading search engines.

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Subject gateways These are organised indexes of Web sites that allow the user to browse by topic in search of relevant information These are organised indexes of Web sites that allow the user to browse by topic in search of relevant information Sites included have been selected, often by librarians, as authoritative, comprehensive and useful sites in subject specific areas Sites included have been selected, often by librarians, as authoritative, comprehensive and useful sites in subject specific areas Search engines provided by the gateways do not search the whole web but just the resources selected. Therefore there are far fewer hits to scan which is more effective for browsing Search engines provided by the gateways do not search the whole web but just the resources selected. Therefore there are far fewer hits to scan which is more effective for browsing

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Examples  RDN: Resource Discovery Network - an excellent collection of subject gateways developed in the UK and designed to bring you Websites relevant to teaching, learning and research  Pinakes - kes.html Links to many major subject gateways are at kes.html kes.html  Or

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 How to search Be specific – search engines are very clever, but they cannot read minds Be specific – search engines are very clever, but they cannot read minds Use more than one keyword if possible to narrow a search (but no more than 6-8 as above this number search engines tend not to work as effectively) Use more than one keyword if possible to narrow a search (but no more than 6-8 as above this number search engines tend not to work as effectively) If you are searching for something like apple, they don’t know whether you’re interested in the fruit, New York or the computer company If you are searching for something like apple, they don’t know whether you’re interested in the fruit, New York or the computer company

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Punctuation – some search engines ignore most punctuation, except apostrophes, hyphens and quotation marks. Punctuation – some search engines ignore most punctuation, except apostrophes, hyphens and quotation marks. It’s always worth running a search a few ways (bow-tie, bow tie, bowtie, St Pauls, St Paul’s) if you don’t get what you were expecting or hoping for It’s always worth running a search a few ways (bow-tie, bow tie, bowtie, St Pauls, St Paul’s) if you don’t get what you were expecting or hoping for

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Quotations - if you want only the web pages that contain your words in order, put them in quotation marks. If you search for “to be or not to be” you will get a totally different set of results that if you search for to be or not to be Quotations - if you want only the web pages that contain your words in order, put them in quotation marks. If you search for “to be or not to be” you will get a totally different set of results that if you search for to be or not to be

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Helpful sites Government papers - will give you a list of UK government papers sites Government papers - will give you a list of UK government papers sites Or try which contains a selection of Government titles covering a broad range of topics including the economy, work and welfare, health, transport and the environment Or try which contains a selection of Government titles covering a broad range of topics including the economy, work and welfare, health, transport and the environmenthttp://

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Answer the following questions How high is Mount Everest? (Try using Ask Jeeves ( and Google ( How high is Mount Everest? (Try using Ask Jeeves ( and Google ( What is the capital of Latvia? (Try using Ask Jeeves ( and Google ( What is the capital of Latvia? (Try using Ask Jeeves ( and Google ( Where would you find a photo of a Sherman tank? Where would you find a photo of a Sherman tank?

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005 Where would you find a list of post codes? Where would you find a list of post codes? What is the first verse of I’m forever blowing bubbles? What is the first verse of I’m forever blowing bubbles? How would you find somebody’s telephone number? (assuming that they’re not ex- directory) How would you find somebody’s telephone number? (assuming that they’re not ex- directory) Search for yourself Search for yourself

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February 2005

Making the most of the World Wide Wonderland 22nd February

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