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Hello and Welcome to
Searching the Web

To the left is the "contents" of the class that we will be going through section by section. All you have to do to get to the next section of the class is to click on the next lesson in order. Clicking on Start will always bring you to this page.

Through this class we will learn about various Search Tools which will help you to find information on the World Wide Web.

By the time you are done this class you will:

  • Have a better understanding of how various Search Tools work;
  • Understand the difference between types of Search Tools;
  • Have learned some "tricks" to improve your searching ability

    NOTE: Before taking this class you should take Navigating the World Wide Web or, have some experience working with World Wide Web search tools.

    Things to remember while searching for information on the Internet

    1. What you want might not be out there.
         NEC Research Institute estimates that there are roughly 1,000,000,000 web pages. However, this doesn't mean that someone necessarily published the exact information that you are looking for. Be aware of this especially if you're looking for something that might be obscure (e.g. a list of all the people who served in a particular military regiment during the revolutionary war).
    2. What you want might be out there, but not as you're thinking of it.
         Never forget that since no two people think exactly alike, the person who published information that you might find useful may have used different words to describe the same thing. For example, some people use the word taxi some use the word cab. In Europe, people use the term holiday instead of vacation. Therefore, don't be shy about using different terms when searching for information.
    3. What you want may be out there but not for free.
         While there is A LOT of information on the Web that is free, there is also some information which you have to pay for. Two of the biggest examples of this are magazine articles and in-depth business information. Generally, most major magazines have websites, however the website usually exists to advertise their publication. Some will offer full text of their magazines, some will offer full text of old issues, some will offer only an article title and a paragraph or so describing the article, etc. etc. Business information (Online trading is the 2nd most popular thing to do on the Web), is another thing which is generally free, but will sometimes cost money. For example, you can find stock quote information in many places for free, but if you wanted to formulate several stock quotes together and run various types of comparisons you might have to pay to subscribe to a service that has the information assembled that way.
    4. People are generally helpful, if you ask a question, you'll usually get an answer.
         The World Wide Web has only been around since 1993, because of that just about everyone remembers when they first "got on" and how lost they might have become. For that reason people are usually helpful when you ask a question. This pertains anywhere from the person that you're sitting next to in a computer lab, to an e-mail address on a website. Besides it always makes people feel smart when they can answer questions.
    5. EVERY Search Tool works differently.
         Generally there are Subject Guides (Directories), Search Engines, and Meta Search Engines. Each one of these works differently some are like contents of a book, some are more like the index of a book, and some are like an index to several books. Additionally, just to make life more interesting - each directory site can work differently, each Search Engine can work differently, etc.
    6. No Search Tool covers the entire World Wide Web
         As was said earlier there are approximately 1,000,000,000 Web pages out there. The BIGGEST Search Tools cover @600,000,000-800,000,000 of those pages. Therefore it's important to use more than one tool when your looking to find lots of information on a topic.

    How Search Tools Work

    Generally when you are searching for information on the World Wide Web you will be using a Subject Guide (Directory), Search Engine, or Meta Search Engine. One general commonality amongst the search tools is that they will all have an Input Screen, a Database, and a Results Screen.

    Note: some Subject Guides (Directories) won't let you search them and they'll just be link lists. (I'm not a big fan of these).

    The input screen will just about always have at least a search box and submit button that look something like this:

    Essentially all you do is click in the search box so that the | appears. Once it is there type in the word or words you are going to search on and then click the search button. (Note: click the search button that's close to the Search box not the one on the toolbar).

    In General you won't actually see the database, but what's in it matters more than just about anything. The database is the area where a Search Tool stores information that is being searched. A search tool doesn't go out and look all over the web when each new search takes place, rather the search tool collects information beforehand and stores it in a place known as the database. When you do a search you are merely searching this area (don't get upset - these databases can be HUGE).

    Some databases contain the full text from a website, some contain only short descriptions, some contain all the words-images-sounds, etc. etc.. It will help you immensely to know what it is you're searching. For example, ever wonder why you seem to get a lot of sites that have nothing to do with the word or words your searched for - well if you're looking in a full text search tool like HotBot or AltaVista it could be because the words you're looking for show up "somewhere" on the page.

    The Results screen will generally be a list of URL's or Categories (if you're working with directories). Results screens are also sometimes called "hit" lists as these are the pages that were "hit" when a certain term was used. In the example below from HotBot, there are three hits from a Search I did on "toy poodle breeders"

    Top 10 Matches   1 - 10    next >>

    1.  411 Pets - Toy Poodles - Toy Poodles, TOY POODLES, toy poodles
    Toy Poodles Listed on 411 Pets Directory. The Standard Poodle is over 15 inches at the highest point of the shoulders. The Miniature Poodle is 15 inches or under at the highest
    http://www.411pets.com/404Locate.htm?404;http://www.411pets.com/tpoodles.html

    2.  Toy Poodles, toy poodle, toy poodle puppies, purebred toy poodles, toy poodle
    Toy Poodles Dog Breeders Directory. Ads for puppies, dogs, kennels, breed and rescue organizations from professional dog breeders and hobby dog breeders
    http://puppyshop.com/caninebreeds/poodles_toy.htm

    3.  Poodle - Toy breeders, Poodle - Toy clubs, Poodle - Toy rescuers
    After you find the zip code, copy it, return here by pressing your browser's back button twice, and paste it into the box to the right. Lookup Zip Code Now Enter your US Zip Code
    http://www.breeders.net/breedpages/207.html

    Address Searching

    Defined:
    I affectionately call this "guessing" at a URL. Essentially what you are doing is taking an educated guess at a websites address and typing that address directly into the location bar.
      [ALWAYS remember that if you have an address (something that looks like http://...), you can immediately click in the address    /location bar above and type in the address. After typing the address in you just push the Enter key on the keyboard and you go to the address.]

    Advantages:
    - Speed: when you get it right you're there
    - Addresses are easy to save for future use (by bookmarking/favoriting them)
    - Address for good sites are easy to find

    Disadvantages:
    - Usually only works for major companies or corporations (aka things with a brand name)
    - If you type even one little thing wrong it won't work correctly
    - It can be tedious to type long addresses

    Examples:
    Ford Motor Company = www.ford.com
    Fidelity Investing = www.fidelity.com
    Pepsi = www.pepsi.com
    The Whitehouse = www.whitehouse.gov
    IRS = www.irs.gov
    Rutgers University = www.rutgers.edu
    Princeton University = www.princeton.edu
    AARP = www.aarp.org

    Hint/Tip:
    Web Addresses generally follow this convention: (though not always)
    .com - Business/Commerce site
    .gov - U.S. Government sites
    .edu - Colleges/Universities
    .org - Non-profit Organizations

    Subject Guides

    Defined:
    Also known as Directories, Subject Guides are websites which allow you to browse the web by subject. I like to think of Subject Guides along the same lines as a big menu. If you go into a restaraunt you'll see a menu which breaks food into different categories - i.e. appetizers, main courses, deserts, etc. Sometimes you'll also see a menu break down into something like main courses-chicken, main courses-fish, etc. Just remember, if you're like me sometimes you eat desert as an entree. You can kind of imagine this as being in the restaraunt with the world's largest menu.

    Advantages:
    - Hand-selected sites picked by editors, more or less carefully
    - Organized into hierarchical subject categories
    - Often annotated with descriptions (not in Yahoo!)
    - Browse subject categories or search using broad, general terms
    - Can be used to find sites similar to one that you like. I.E. type the name of a site that you like (not the URL) and when you search it will bring up categories that that site is listed in...by choosing the category you can see other related sites

    Disadvantages:
    - NO full-text of documents. Can search only the subject categories and descriptions.
    - Because they are usually reviewed by editors or subject specialists, Subject Guides generally cover less material than a Search Engines or MetaSearch Engines.
    - Possible that the site reviewer(s) doesn't think like you and may categorize something not in a way that you would.

    Examples:
    Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
    Magellan (magellan.excite.com/)
    Argus Clearinghouse (www.clearinghouse.net)

    Search Engines

    Defined:
    Search engines attempt to help a user isolate desired information or resources by searching for keywords that the user specifies. The method for finding this information is usually done by maintaining an index of Web resources that can be queried for the keywords or concepts entered by the user. The index can be built from specific resource lists or created by Web wanderers, robots, spiders, crawlers, and worms. (computer programs)

    Ok what all this really means is this - Search Engines have huge databases or warehouses of information. You can look for all the things in that warehouse which match a word or set of words. I generally like to think of a Search Engine like the index of a book. An index will tell you where in the book a word occurs, but it usually doesn't provide you with any context. For example, it will say world wide web, page 92, but it won't say if it's going to define the web, tell you how to search it, tell you about the history of the web, etc.

    Advantages:
    - Full-text searching of selected Web pages (in most cases)
    - Search by keyword, trying to match exactly the words in the pages
    - Their databases are generally much larger than subject guides

    Disadvantages:
    - Limited browsing, no subject categories
    - Databases compiled by "spiders" (computer-robot programs) with minimal human oversight
    - Search-Engine size: from small and specialized to a large percentage of the indexable Web
    - You sometimes turn up "garbage" hits. Hits that come up because the word you searched on somehow appeared on the site.

    Examples:
    Google (www.google.com)
    HotBot (www.hotbot.com)
    AltaVista (www.altavista.com)
    FAST Search (www.alltheweb.com)
    Excite (www.excite.com)
    InfoSeek (www.infoseek.com/)

    MetaSearch Engines

    Defined:
    MetaSearch Engines cheat the system a bit. Instead of having their own database of web addresses to search like regular search engines, MetaSearch Engines search the databases of other Search Engines (up to 10 others) and bring the results in and format them so they're alike.

    Advantages:
    - Allows you to look in multiple Search Tools at the same time
    - Looks in Search Tools you may not even know about
    - Teaches you new Search Tools

    Disadvantages:
    - If the topic is too broad, you will get too much information
    - Generally will only bring back a limited amount of results from each engine
    - As different Search Tools handle Boolean operators differently, some engines may be excluded only for this reason

    Examples:
    MetaCrawler (www.metacrawler.com)
    DogPile (www.dogpile.com)
    Inference Find (www.infind.com/)
    SavvySearch (www.savvysearch.com/)

    Kid's Search Tools

    Defined:
    Tools which are designed primarily to serve the needs of children, either in focus, or by filtering out sites that some parents and teachers might find inappropriate for kids. These usually include sites that deal with explicit sexual matters, violence, hate speech, gambling and drug use. Additionally, advertising is usually restricted to kids products and there is less of it when compared to the other search tools.

    Advantages:
    - Content is filtered so your chances of finding offensive material are greatly decreased
    - Content is directed towards kids so relevant sites will be more prevalent
    - Language on the site is generally geared towards kids so it's easy to understand
    - Potentially offensive advertising is generally not accepted by site

    Disadvantages:
    - Content is often filtered very tightly and by computer programs, therefore some sites without offensive material will still be excluded. E.G. Sex education sites, sites dealing with diseases that affect reproductive areas, etc.
    - Don't list as many or have the level of coverage that the "adult" search tools do

    Examples:
    Yahooligans
    Ask Jeeves for Kids
    Linkasaurus

    Tips and Tricks

    Vocabulary Control (Synonyms, Homonymns, Heirarchy)
    The point of this tip is merely to remember about language. For example:
    Bat - can mean either baseball bat or the furry rodent
    Car and Automobile mean generally the same thing
    A dog is a type of Mammal which is a type of Animal
    In Europe the word Holiday is commonly used in place of Vacation
    ...

    Case Sensitivity
    Most search engines are "strangely" case sensitive which means:
    - if you search for cats - most Search Tools will look for cats, Cats, CATS, etc.
    - if you search for Cats - most Search Tools will look for Cats, CATS, etc. but won't look for cats because you capitalized the first letter.
    - if you search for CATS - most Search Tools will look for CATS and not look for cats or Cats
       Remember this can be very helpful when you're searching for proper nouns - e.g. Washington Monument, Philadelphia Eagles, etc.

    Implied Boolean Symbols (Used for And, Not, Phrase searching)
    + The plus sign placed before a word (e.g. +dogs) tells the search tool that the word must be included on a webpage in order to be included on the Search Results page
    - The minus sign placed before a word (e.g. -poodles) tells the search tool that the word must not be included on a webpage in order to be included on the Search Results page
    "" The quotation symbols placed around a group of words (e.g. "how do I love thee") tell the search tool that the words must appear as a phrase on a webpage in order for the page to be included on a Search Results page

      NOTE: These symbols are used in about 90% of Search Tools whereas traditional AND, OR, NOT searching is done in many different ways in various Search Tools. If +, -, and "" aren't supported you'll know quickly as the Search Tool will tell you it can't find anything.

    Ctrl+f (For page searches) (Apple+f for Mac users)
    This tip is more of an aid for use when you go to a webpage that a Search Engine claimed to have the word/words you searched on. When you go to a page you can press and hold down the Ctrl key and then press the F key once and a "Find on Page" box will appear on the screen. Using this tool you can type in the word you are looking for on a page and be taken directly to it. Remember, this is not a websearch you are merely finding a word on a page that you are already on. This tip is used mostly when a page you come to is VERY long and you have to search for a particular term on the page.

    "Bookmarking/Favoriting" Search Results (Bookmark=Netscape/Favorite=Internet Explorer)
    One of the best ways to make your life easier. If you do a search and it brings you back results that you're happy with, there is no reason that you can't bookmark the results. This way if you need to do the search again or if you can't finish going thru the results you can come back using the bookmark. This is especially helpful if you've put together a long search statement (e.g. "dog breeders" +poodles -toy = a search for non-toy poodle breeders)

    Pick 3
    To really improve your web searching ability it's really best to pick one search engine from the Subject Directory list, one from the Search Engine list, and one from the MetaSearch Engine list and learn how each one works. There are roughly 30 major Search Engines and, to be blunt, I refuse to learn more than a few of these as I don't have that kind of time (and remember, it's my job to find information on the web). However, I know @3 tools very well and by knowing what they do, how they do it, and what they cover I can find a vast majority of things that I'm looking for. Better advice on how to do this is in the practice exercises.

    More Information

    There are two FANTASTIC sources for information about Search Engines on the Web.

    They are:

    Search Engine Watch (www.searchenginewatch.com)

    SearchIQ (www.searchiq.com)

    Practice Exercises

    NOTE: If not using this page in a class, print first so that you have the instructions as you proceed through the exercises.

    1. Using the links for Yahoo, Google, and MetaCrawler to the left try the following search: (We'll be looking for toy poodle breeders)

    • Search for the word poodle (note the amount of hits you get)
    • Now Search for the words toy poodle (again note the amount of hits)
    • Now try searching by using "toy poodle" (check the hits - they should be going down)
    • Last try "toy poodle" +breeders
    2. Using the library's webpage of Search Tools at
    http://www.camden.lib.nj.us/web/websearch.htm

    • Try 2-3 Search tools from each category with a simple search on a word of your choice.
    • Find the help area for each one of the tools you choose and review how they work.
    • Keep your favorite from each category for a couple of weeks and use them exclusively when you search - I'll bet you'll be a happier web searcher