Todays Quote

1
Searching
Search results are only as good as the query you
pose and how you search. There is no silver
bullet
2
Some search engines (There are more than 2500)

• Altavista
• Ask Jeeves
• Google
• Infoseek
• Northernlight
• Excite
• Hot Bot
• Go

• About
• Magellan
• NetFind(AOL)
• Lycos
• Inktomi
• Looksmart
• Dogpile(Metasearch)
• Metacrawler(Metasearch)
• Mama (Metasearch)
• Savycrawler(Metasearch)

3
The World Wide Web

• What is a search engine?

• Program used to find Web pages pertaining to a
  specific topic

4
The World Wide Web

• What is a hit?

• Any Web page name that lists as the result of a
  search

5

• What is a directory?

• Search tool with organized set of topics and
  subtopics
• Lets you find information by clicking links
  rather than entering keywords

6
Facts

• 1 Billion or more Internet Documents
• Combining multiple search criteria in a given
  search can increase the likelihood of finding the
  information desired by a factor of 3.5 or more
• 50 of searches find broken links

7
Search Tools

• Web Directory
• Compiled by humans and organized by subject
  matter
• Analogy Card catalog in a library
• Smaller size - hand picked, credible sites that
  give in-depth information of subject
• Usually less references than search engines

8
Search techniques

• Specific to the engine used
• Keyword searching
• Type in string of words
• Natural language queries - conversational syntax
• askjeeves, excite, lycos

9
Search Tips

• Natural Language
• Boolean Algebra (AND,OR,NOT)
• Mozart OR Beethoven
• Symbols , , -_
• Cherokee jeep
• quotation marks for phrases
• great barrier reef
• python-monty
• HotelsParis-Bed and Breakfast

10
General Search Tips

• Enter precise search terms - be specific
• Enter singular terms, not plural
• Enter multiple spellings, multiple searches
• Use double quotes for specific words in precise
  order
• Wildcards (ie - comput)
• Use capitalization for proper nouns
• Use synonyms or alternate spellings (ex. Car and
  automobile)

11
Evaluating Information

• Accuracy and Authority
• Is there an author? Who wrote the page? Can you
  contact them?
• What are the authors qualifications?
• Why was the document produced?
• Is there an e-mail address provided for
  questions?
• Is there an author or is it a Webmaster?
• What Institution is hosting the site dissect
  the URL (look at the domain name)?

12
Evaluating Information

• Objectivity
• What are the goals of the page?
• Inform, advertise or convince
• How detailed in the information?
• Opinions or facts
• Currency
• When was it produced?
• Are there dead links?
• When was it updated?

• Coverage
• How in-depth is the material?
• Do links lead to relevant information?
• Can you find the same information elsewhere?

13
Google

• 100 million searches every day
• 97 of users find what they need most of the time
• 15 million visitors each month
• Contains its own system of measuring relevancy,
  partially based on number of links to that site
• No paying for ranking
• 40 computer science PhDs maintain it
• Index stored on 10,000 PCs
• Google powers Yahoo and now AOL

14
Features

• Image search
• Cached pages
• Type in a name, city, state get their phone
  number and address
• Type in address, city, state get a map of the
  location
• www.google.com/unclesam searches only govt
  websites

15
More Googleing

• Toolbar.google.com - adds the Google Toolbar to
  Internet Explorer
• Directory.google.com to get to their directory
• Not great for broad-based searches best for more
  specific

16
Some searches to try

• Shutdown articles 95 98 sitemicrosoft.com
• General format
• Search termsite name
• Great site lets go there now
• www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/powersearch.html