Optimal Use of Internet Searching Part II

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Optimal Use of Internet SearchingPart II

• --Bienvenidos--
• Tips on searching Google other such creatures
• SPA 980/EDU 953 Spring 2008Callie Bergeris

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Types of Search Tools

• Search Engines
• Meta-Search Engines
• Directories

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Youve heard it said that information on the
Internet

• comes from ANYWHERE
• is published by ANYONE
• is not screened or peer-reviewed prior to
  publication
• True. Some steps you can take

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Its smart to use more than one search engine

• http//ranking.thumbshots.com/
• http//www.langreiter.com/exec/yahoo-vs-google
  .html

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Its obvious that you
have to be cautious when looking for academic
and other information on the Internet.http//ww
w.library.uow.edu.au/helptraining/tutorials/resedg
e/site1.html
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Having said thatevaluating a web page

• Some important things to check for
• --Who wrote the web page?
• --Who is this page written for?
• --What is the authors point of view?
• --Is this current or out of date?
• --Where do the links take you?

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Search Engine - Definition

• Online tool which uses a software program known
  as a spider to crawl the Web and retrieve
  information about Web pages which are indexed by
  the engine.
• Provides a search tool which retrieves results
  based on a user-defined search query.
• You are actually searching the engines
  collection of web pages which it has indexed -
  not the Web itself!

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More on search engines

• Indexed by spiders / entries not reviewed by
  humans
• Provide a Higher Quantity of Results vs. Quality
• Powerful Advanced Searching Capabilities
• Search the Full-Text of WebPages
• Very Current - Updated
• Most Useful for Specific Queries

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Search Engine a close-up

• Google
• Largest Most Popular Search Engine
• 8 Billion Pages Indexed
• Very Effective Advanced Search Features
• Limit searches by domain, ie. Siteedu
• Limit searches by format, ie. .pdf,
• Specialized Search Tools
• Images, Directory, Videos, Books, Scholar, News,
  Blogger

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A Closer Look

• Google Scholar (scholarly literature--articles,
  books)
• Google Books (books)
• Google Directory (handpicked specific topical
  sites) Reference Education K through 12

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Google aids to use

• AND, OR, NOT (in caps)
• siteorg OR siteedu (or just one)
• definesiesta
• food facts (food facts and nutrition and
  cooking information)
• phrase searching language immersion
• Word order counts
• Many search engines employ the same or similar
  tricks

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Google tips continued

• Spanish sitewww.iona.edu
• museum sitees
• allintitle music teach Spanish
• allinurl don quixote
• virus -computer

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Google help center

• http//www.google.com/support

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There is strength in numbers

• Do not use Google only
• Try two or three other search engines, such as
• ask.com
• yahoo.com
• altavista in Spanish
• alltheweb.com

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Try search engine Spanish siteeduwww.google.co
m

• A list of Spanish-related search engines
• http//www.netmasters.co.uk/european_search_engine
  s/spain.shtml

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Search Tips - Before the Search

• Refine and clarify topic
• -Browse directory and books
• Make keyword list
• Think about which resources would most likely
  have information relevant to your topic

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Search Tips continued

• Do phrase-searching
• Use combinationsorigin of species darwin
• Place most important words first in the search
  string
• Might need to use uncommon words

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Meta-Search Engines

• A meta-search engine searches the collections
  of multiple single search engines simultaneously,
  retrieving the top results from each. They do not
  sustain an index of their own.

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Meta-Search Engine Characteristics

• Most return the top 5 or 10 results from each
  engine
• No advanced searching capabilities
• Many dont allow Boolean or phrase searching
• Less precise than single search engines
• Some dont search Google
• Useful in finding which engine covers topic best
• Useful in finding what information may be
  available on a topic

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More about meta-search engines

• Do not crawl the web themselves to build
  databases of Web pages like search engines do
  they send your search terms or queries to several
  search engines at once and display the top
  results together on a single page.
• As good as the quality of the search engine
  databases they obtain results from.

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Try these meta-search engines

• www.dogpile.com
• www.mamma.com
• http//www.jux2.com/
• www.zuula.com
• www.graball.com
• Spanish grammar music

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You can also use Directories

• A directory (often called a subject directory)
  is a collection of indexed web pages
  hierarchically organized into browsable
  categories by humans.

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Directories - Characteristics

• Indexed by human editors
• Provide higher quality vs. quantity
• Typically Much Smaller than Search Engines
• Entries are usually annotated
• They dont search the full-text of web pages as
  search engines do
• Both commercial non-commercial directories

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Directorieswhen to use

• Useful When You Have a Broad Topic
• Can help narrow focus
• Useful at Start of Research to Define Relevant
  Key Words
• Useful to Observe What Information is Available
  on a Topic

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A good web page with a table of general
directories to use can be found at

• http//www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Int
  ernet/SubjDirectories.html

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Library Resources for Internet Searching
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Directories - Examples

• Open Directory Project
• http//dmoz.org
• Librarians Index to the Internet
• http//www.lii.org
• Infomine
• http//infomine.ucr.edu

• Academic Info
• http//www.academicinfo.net
• Yahoo!http//dir.yahoo.com
• Resource Discovery
• Network
• http//www.rdn.ac.uk/

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How do I get there?

• http//www.iona.edu/library/

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Search Tools Summary

• Search Engines - Search a collection of indexed
  web pages
• Meta-Search Engines - Search multiple search
  engines simultaneously
• Directories - Provide a collection of indexed web
  pages arranged in categories
• Specialized Resources - Dedicated to One Subject
  or Industry

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Compare the Internet vs. Electronic Databases

• Remember that
• the library subscribes to the databases
• Information in our electronic databases comes
  from reputable sources and/or publications
• Many electronic databases include a high
  percentage of scholarly journals

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Getting Full-text Articles

• So many articles are not available in full-text
  in the database that Im searching? ?
• Check the Finding Journal Articles web page to
  see if the journal is available in our
  paper/microform collection or electronically in
  another database
• www.iona.edu/library Hispanic Review

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Document Delivery Service (Interlibrary Loan or
ILL)

• To request an article from a journal that we
  dont have either in print or in another
  electronic database
• Request the article electronically by selecting
  the request articles link on the Interlibrary
  Loan Request section on the Library Forms page
• Be sure to allow enough time for these materials
  to be retrieved usually about 2 weeks

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Good luck with your research ..

• If you need help, please ask a librarian !
• Callie Bergeris 633-2227Reference Desk 637-7716