XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 1 Searching the Web Using Search Engines and Directories Effectively Tutorial 3

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 2 Objectives Use Boolean logic to improve your Web searches. Use other Search Expression Operators to improve your Web searches. Use Search Filters to improve your Web searches. Assess the Validity and Quality of Web Research Resources.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 3 Boolean Operators Boolean operators, or logical operators, specify the logical relationship between the elements they join. Three basic Boolean operators are recognized by most search engines.  AND  OR  NOT

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 4 Boolean Operators Search ExpressionSearch Returns Pages that Include exports AND France AND JapanAll of the three search terms exports OR France OR JapanAny of the three search terms exports NOT France NOT JapanExports, but not if the page also includes the terms France or Japan exports AND France NOT JapanExports and France, but not Japan

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 5 Search Expression Operators A precedence operator, also called an inclusion operator, clarifies the grouping within a complex expression and is usually indicated by the parentheses ( ) symbols. A location operator, or proximity operator, lets you search for terms that appear close to each other in the text of a Web page. The most common location operator offered in Web search engines is the NEAR operator.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 6 Wildcard Character (*) Wildcard character:  allows you to omit part of a search term.  many search engines recognize the asterisk (*) as the wildcard character.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 7 Advanced Search Options Search filter:  eliminates Web pages from a search.  the filter criteria can include such Web page attributes as language, data, domain, host, or page component.

Using AltaVista Advanced Search New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 8 Complex search in AltaVista for the search expression: Germany AND (trade or treat*) AND agricult*

Filtered Search in Ask Jeeves New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 9 Advanced search page in Ask Jeeves for the search expression: rice harvest Filtered to search only for pages from Southeast Asia and modified in the last six months

Filtered Search in Google New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 10 Advanced search page in Google for the search expression: Finland “School of Economics” Filtered to search only for pages in English and from the TLD.fi.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 11 Evaluating the Validity and Quality of Web Resources Reduce your risk by carefully evaluating the quality of any Web resource on which you plan to rely for information related to an important judgment or decision. Evaluate on the Web page’s:  Authorship  Content  Appearance

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 12 Author Identity and Objectivity Web pages should identify the author and present the author’s background information and credentials. Check secondary sources for corroborating information. Author contact information should be provided. Examine the domain identifier in the URL. Consider whether the qualifications presented by the author pertain to the material that appears on the Web site. Information about the author’s affiliations should be provided.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 13 Content Determine timeliness of the content by checking the publication date. Read the content critically and evaluate whether the included topics are relevant to the research question at hand. Determine whether important topics or considerations were omitted. Assess the depth of treatment the author gives to subject.

XP New Perspectives on The Internet, Sixth Edition— Comprehensive Tutorial 3 14 Form and Appearance Many pages that contain low-quality or incorrect information are poorly designed and not well edited. A Web page that contains spelling errors might indicate a low-quality resource. Loud colors, graphics that serve no purpose, and flashing text are all Web page design elements that often suggest low-quality resource.