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Advanced Searching: Tips and Tricks for Researchers of All Ages

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Direct Search - www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm. Complete ... Search with a question. Follow a thread. Links Directories. Other people's research and time ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Advanced Searching: Tips and Tricks for Researchers of All Ages


1
Advanced Searching Tips and Tricks for
Researchers of All Ages
  • Doug Prouty
  • Contra Costa CountyOffice of Education
  • CUE Conference 2005

2
(No Transcript)
3
Agenda
  • Search Tools
  • Google
  • Tools of the Trade
  • Strategies and Practice

4
Disclaimer
  • We will be searching the Internet without a filter

5
Search Tools
  • Search Engines Meta Search Engines
  • Subject Directories
  • Databases Invisible Web

6
Search Engines and Meta
  • Google www.google.com
  • Vivisimo www.vivisimo.org
  • Kartoo www.kartoo.com
  • Teoma www.teoma.com
  • Gigablast www.gigablast.com
  • A9 www.a9.com

7
Subject Directories
  • Librarians Index to the Int.- www.lii.org
  • Kids Click! www.kidsclick.org
  • Academic Info - www.academicinfo.net
  • Yahooligans www.yahooligans.com
  • BUBL - bubl.ac.uk/link
  • DMOZ - dmoz.org
  • Infomine - infomine.ucr.edu
  • Beaucoup - www.beaucoup.com
  • iTools - www.itools.com

8
Databases Invisible Web500 times bigger than
the searchable web
  • Invisible Web - www.invisible-web.net
  • Direct Search - www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm
  • Complete Planet www.completeplanet.com
  • Internet Public Library - www.ipl.org/ref
  • FaganFinder - www.faganfinder.com
  • Incy Wincy - www.incywincy.com
  • In Google cancer searchable databases

9
Internet Archivewww.archive.org
  • Wayback Machine
  • 300 terabytes
  • Older than 6 months
  • Publicly-accessible
  • 5 million hits / day

10
OK, Now Well Look at Google
11
Why Google?
  • The size of its database 3.3 billion pages (web
    is 10 billion pages)
  • Clean interface
  • Good Advanced Features
  • Rankings/Results
  • No payment for placement
  • Web sites linked to page
  • News section
  • Related terms

12
Google Advanced Search
13
Google Advanced Search
  • IMSA Internet Search Wizard http//21cif.imsa.edu/
    locate

14
Other Google Engines
  • http//images.google.com
  • http//news.google.com
  • http//maps.google.com/
  • http//groups.google.com
  • http//www.google.com/language_tools

15
www.google.com/help
16
Google Wildcards
  • Google has automatic stemming (converts teacher
    to teaching)
  • Three Mice three blind mice, three dead
    mice, etc.
  • teacher converts to educator

17
When not to use Google?
  • Only indexes 1/3 of the Visible Web
  • Invisible Web
  • Behind databases
  • Multimedia

18
Beyond the Usual Web Search Engines
19
Communities
  • Yahoo Groups http//groups.yahoo.com
  • MSN Groups http//groups.msn.com
  • Google Groups http//groups.google.com
  • Search like you talk with slang and incomplete
    sentences. Use buzzwords
  • Search with a question
  • Follow a thread

20
Links Directories
  • Other peoples research and time
  • Use links and directory in your searches
  • ie roses garden flower links directory

21
Find the Expert
  • Weblog or Blog Searching
  • http//www.feedster.com
  • All Experts
  • http//www.allexperts.com
  • Obscure topics
  • Try a search term in Google like, Chimpanzee
    anthropology professor siteedu

22
Current Events
  • News by Zip Code
  • www.topix.net
  • Google News
  • http//news.google.com/

23
Strategies and Practice
24
Vocabulary Building
  • Start with a few words, scan the results list and
    copy paste words into a WP
  • Add means to your search phrase
  • Add the term Glossary or Dictionary to your
    search terms
  • Use the search engine Teomas, Refine Search
    Suggestions
  • www.glossarist.com

25
Synonyms
  • How do you find Synonyms - Thesaurus
  • I.e. for Buffalo Consider
  • Bison
  • Endangered Species
  • Googles

26
Narrowing
  • Many assignments are too broad
  • Use Yahoo or DMOZ categories to drill down.

27
Digging
  • First Search Scan Results
  • Gather keywords
  • Notice page titles and URLs
  • Click through
  • Notice unique words
  • Dates
  • Names
  • Facts

28
What Others Say ?
  • Google linkwww.cisco.com
  • Search the URL in alexa.com
  • WHOIS www.whois.net
  • See what links are in Googles Similar pages
  • Look up the page author in Google

29
Quick Scan of Site 5Ws
  • Who - wrote it?
  • What does the content have for you?
  • Where is the author based?
  • organization, institution, agency you recognize
  • When was it last updated?
  • View - Page Info (Netscape) OR File -
    Properties (IE)
  • Why is this posted?
  • truncate back the URL

30
Tools of the Trade
31
Search/Research Aids
  • Bookmark Manager - bkm.sourceforge.net
  • Google Toolbar - toolbar.google.com
  • Ultra Edit - www.ultraedit.com
  • Watch That Page - www.watchthatpage.com

32
Collection Tools
  • Grokker www.grokker.com
  • Any Database
  • www.eGems.com
  • Web Stasher - www.flexity.net
  • CCCOE - FMP
  • Word Processors
  • Spreadsheets and Databases

33
Thank you!
  • Doug Prouty
  • dprouty_at_cccoe.k12.ca.us
  • Contra Costa County Office of Education
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