1. Web Searching Strategies
Created by J. Titus for Plainfield High School
November, 2011

2. Topics included in this power point
Define a search engine
How does a search engine work
Define subject directory
Improving your search strategies
Effective search strategies

3. What is a search engine?
An Internet tool which will search for sites containing the words that you designated as your search term
(keyword)
Search engines search their own databases of information

4. How does a search engine work?
Deploys a robot program called a spider or robot designed to track down Web pages, follow the links these pages contain, and add information to their own database
Each search engine has its own way of doing things (searching)

5. How do search engines differ?
Different databases, or collection of pages, are searched
The level of sophistication of the “robot” varies
Relevancy rankings differ
Ordered by rank
Web page designers often try spamdexing
Rankings are based on a formula
Differing methods of collection
Search results demo

6. How does a search engine know about the documents on the Web?
If the search engine’s “robots” find the site on their gathering missions.
Use of tags or subject
tracings
If the publisher of the document registers it with the search engines

7. Examples of search engines?

8. Not all search engines are created equally!
Only 1% of the databases in Yahoo, Google, and MSN search engines contain overlapping sites.
What does this mean to the researcher?

9. What is an Internet subject directory?
Organizes Internet sites by subject
User works down a series of menus
Main topics to subtopics
Smaller than a search engine
Maintained by human beings

10. Using a web directory
To access the Yahoo or Google directory, use this address:
Directories allow the user to form the search, but may not use common terms
Search engines allow the users to use common language, but may lead to lots of hits

11. Web searching strategies
How do I prepare to search?
Formulate your search question carefully
Examples
I want to find information on popular methods of losing weight?
When do Monarch butterflies migrate?
How does teenage pregnancy effect the mother’s life?

12. Web searching strategies
Identity keywords
I want to find information on popular methods of losing weight?
When do Monarch butterflies migrate?
How does teenage pregnancy effect the mother’s life?
Select synonyms and other word forms
Popular common, favorite
Methods method, ways, techniques
Losing reducing, reduction, lose
Weight fat, dieting, diet

13. How can I improve my use of searching engines?
Read the help files
Use wildcard searches
This type of search uses a special symbol * to search simultaneously for several words with the same stem

14. How can I improve my use of searching engines?
Use Boolean searches
Allows you to broaden or narrow a search
Designated differently in each search engine
In Google, click on the Advanced Search link to the right of the search entry box.
Boolean searches use the operator terms: and, or, not
And & or will broaden your search results
Not will narrow you search results

15. AND disease heart prevention
Using and will only provide links to sites which have BOTH/ALL of these words present
AND
disease
heart
prevention

16. Use of the word OR will broaden your search.
drama
theater OR

17. How do I narrow my search?
Using not narrows the search by telling the search engine to exclude certain words.
Alta Vista uses the form and not
pregnancy
teen*
NOT

18. What are some effective search strategies?
Choosing the right search term
Use a unique keyword
Search only your results
Check your spelling
Try using quotation marks around phrases

19. Decide whether you need a subject directory or search engine
Try different search engines
Determine if the search engine meets your needs:
How easy was it to figure out how to search?
Are the search results summarized?
Were the amount of results returned adequate or overwhelming?
How current are the results?

20. Research requires multiple sources
It is important to use reliable sources.
How do you do this?
Use databases such as the ones found on iconn.org. These databases are put together by research authorities and respected publishers.
Use authored/teacher recommended websites. (teenhealth.org)
Books are still an excellent source and may have good supporting illustrations, graphs, and charts. Indexing helps you find what you are looking for.

21. Skills for the future Going to college?
Your professors will expect more of you than simply an internet search and sources
Getting a job?
Your employers will expect you to have good reading, writing, and thinking skills. You may be asked to perform research. Impress them with your skills that you’ve developed.

22. Searching Databases www.iconn.org Has many databases
Requires good navigation skills
Read the screen
Very reliable information
Can be accessed on any computer in school but requires a public library card number to access from home.

23. Activity: What is your topic What is your topic What is your topic
Consider synonyms or a wild card search
Perform a search as you normally would.
What are your search results?
Now, do the same search using Google Advanced search.
How do the results differ?
Search your topic in a subject directory
Use or
What is your topic
Consider synonyms or a wild card search
Perform a search as you normally would.
What are your search results?
Now, do the same search using Google Advanced search.
How do the results differ?
Search your topic in a subject directory
Use
What is your topic
Consider synonyms or a wild card search
Perform a search as you normally would.
What are your search results?
Now, do the same search using Google Advanced search.
How do the results differ?
Search your topic in a subject directory
Use