Finding Information

Using the Internet to search

Finding Stuff on the Web...

Step One is to understand the difference between– Internet Providers– Browsers– Search Engines

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Provides access to the Internet– Are national providers such as IBM, GlobalNet,

AOL– Are local providers such as Imperium

Internet Browsers

Need a browser to use and see the Web Browser software interprets HTML and

allows you to see the document page Common browsers are Microsoft Explorer,

Firefox and Safari

Meaning of a URL (unique resource locator)

Search Engines

Software that searches an index and returns matches– Directory or Index--Finds web pages and

returns lists of pages which match the query– Usually compiled manually by submission– Google is an example

Meta Search Engines

Meta search engines pass queries on to other search engines and then summarizes the results.– Dogpile, Ask Jeeves, Altavista

Using Boolean Searches

A Boolean search allows the inclusion or exclusion of documents

Uses AND (+), NOT (-), or OR

Using ORI want information about college

Colleges Universities

OR--looks in both

Using AND

I’m interested in the relationship between crime and poverty.

Crime Poverty

AND--selects ONLY the shaded area

Using NOT

I want to know about radiation NOT nuclear radiation.

Radiation NuclearRadiation

NOT--will give you information about radiation but eliminates anything about nuclear radiation

Using “quotation marks”

Want information about the Lincoln Penny Type in Lincoln Penny and you get all

information about Lincoln and about pennies

Type in “Lincoln Penny” and it gives only information about Lincoln pennies

Like putting in an AND--but better

What if you get NO results

Check spelling Try synonyms or word variations Be less specific--use fewer connectors Try a different search engine

What if you get TOO MANY results? Try to be more specific Use as many keywords as possible

Be more selective--X out what you don’t need

Server problems?

Try again in a few minutes Use a less busy time of day Check your spelling URL may be case sensitive Make sure no spaces

Scan, Focus, Act

Scan--Select what you need--Know what you don’t need--clip, copy, print

Focus--Make sure you’re using the right tool for task--(Michael Jackson’s latest CD)

Act--Plan before you start--

Adapted from Frank Burns

Happy Searching

Searching is

FUN!