The internet Section 1

Internet search tools

Search engines
1. Individual search engine-uses computer programs called spiders,
crawlers or robots to match key search words with the web pages that
contain them
• The results returned are lists of web pages and titles
• Does not search the internet itself, but instead searches
databases of information about the internet
• Google.com ask.com yahoo, live
2. Meta-search engines-sends requests for information to several search
engines simultaneously and compiles the results
3. As the results are compiled duplications are eliminated, thus yielding
fewer results
4. A time saver compared to a regular search engine
5. Examples- Google custom search allows users to control their search
by specifying
a. Name of the search engine, description, language, sites
6. Subject directories- searchable data bases that are developed and
maintained by human selection of sites to search broad subject
categories and their descriptions
a. Used in research and often linked to library systems research
databases
b. Mostly made up of specialized databases, such as library catalogs
c. Searches for non html formats (PDF, word, excel, PowerPoint)
d. Results in more reliable pages than search engines
e. http://infomine.ucr.edu compiled by academic librarians
f. www.lii.org librarians internet index
g. www.about.com
7. Ebsco host premium online information for institutions
a. Colleges and universities, hospitals, and corporations
b. Government, k-12 schools, public libraries
1. Libraryresearch.com-subsidary of EBSCOhost
2. ERIC (education resource information center)
3. CRIS ( current research and information system)
4. Incywincy.com
5. Completeplanet.com
6. Google scholar
Internet search methods
8. Keyword-unique phrases synonynms or words variations
a. Field a search parameter such as a title date of publication useful
for drillin dowin and focusing on specific content
9. Boolean logic
a. Uses operators with keywords to narrow serch parameters
b. Operators include and or and “”+- not
c. And narrows results by searching for pages that contaion both
keywords
d. Or expands resultys by searching for pages that contain either of
the keywords
e. Quotation marks narrow results by searching for phrases
10.Boolean is implies in many search engines, but still valuable method
for narrowing
11.Miscellaneous search methods
a. different language support- searches for words in different
languages
b. spell checker- give suggestions if the word keyed for the search is
misspelled
c. phonebook uses phone numbers to search for locations and
addresses
d. math equivelants- solves basic math problems and converts
equations