Tips for Internet Searching (use these any time you need to find the correct information fast)

 If you opened this in PowerPoint (instead of your web browser), click F5 to view this presentation in “Slide Show” mode.  You will also need to have the file “7 th - Search Tips Questions” open. Use this PowerPoint to answer the questions.

1. What is a Search Engine?  A search engine is designed to search for information on the Web.

2. How does a search engine work? 1. Web crawlers (or spiders) follow links all throughout the web and gather information about sites Note - These spiders are computer programs, not actual living things 2. Indexes – These sites are indexed, or put into an order by categories and subcategories according to keywords on the sites.

2. How does a search engine work? 3. Searching – You type in queries (questions) into a search engine and the engine returns results based on: –Keywords you used –Page Rank

2. How does a search engine work? Keywords are the important part of a search. If I want to know “Who won the Heisman trophy in 2008” the keywords would be “Heisman” and “2008”

Keyword “Test” If you want to find a cookie recipe, which of these searches would have the best keywords? Cookie recipeTypes of cookies How to make cookies Go to next slide for the correct answer.

Keyword “Test” If you want to find a cookie recipe, which box has the best keywords? Cookie recipe Types of cookies How to make cookies Words like “how” and “to” are ignored This won’t give recipes, it will give types of cookies Correct!

Page Rank Page Rank – Google and other search engines give each page a ranking based on how many pages link to it How are pages ranked?  Links from other pages – If other pages link to the page, then Google considers it important and gives it a higher ranking

Search Engine Tips

3. Separate Search Words  Put spaces between words –Unless proper words are one word Ex.) “PowerPoint” is not the same as “Power Point”  No commas  No dashes (obviously) Submit junior high schools|

4. Enter Most Important Words First  Order may matter and may provide different results  Didn’t get the good results? Change the order  Some words are ignored unless in quotes –Ex.) Of, the, how, about, is Submit China great wall of|

5. Use Synonyms  If you know a good synonym, use it.  Use abbreviations  Be mindful of spelling variations- “grey” and “gray”  British English- “color” vs. “colour” Submit Old ancient archaic people|

6. Use Phrase Searching (if possible)  Search by exact phrases.  Use quotation marks. “Exeter Township” instead of just Exeter Township  When you do this, you are searching for pages that include only those words in that order  Some websites have phrase searching in their menus.

7. Indicate Inclusions (+) or Exclusions (-)  Plus (+) sign –Works like “and” –Ex. Paris and London populations  Minus (-) sign –Works like “not” –Ex. Bass Types – fish if you are interested in the instrument and not the fish

8. Use Boolean Connectors  And, or, not –“And” and “not” decrease results  Ex. Football not NFL –“Or” increases results  Pigs or Cows BOO (lean) !!

9. Don’ts  Don’t use complete sentences –If you want to find out who was the general for the North in the Civil War don’t search for “Who was the General for the North in the Civil War” instead just type “Civil War Generals North”  This is by far the most common mistake made when searching the web. It makes searching so much harder for both you and the search engine you are using!

10. Different search engines  The top 4 search engines, along with the percentage of all searches conducted on them –Google – 70.46% Google –Yahoo – 16.73% Yahoo –Bing- 9.28% Bing- –Ask – 2.5% Ask If you aren’t familiar with any of these search engines, click on the link to take a quick look at them.