Information Overload

1
Information Overload?
2
The Internet may be the worlds greatest
library, but lets face it all the books are on
the floor. -- D.C. Denison
3
Learn how to search the Internet with ease.
4
Using Search Engines
5
When Do I Use a Search Engine?

• Search engines are good when you are looking for
  a topic that is unusual or obscure.
• When you are searching for current events or
  breaking stories, search engines can provide
  up-to-date information.

6
Examples of Search Engines

• Googlewww.google.com
• Alta Vistawww.altavista.com
• allthe web
• http//www.alltheweb.com/

7
Mamma is a meta search engine. It will search
several search engines in order to return
results. http//www.mamma.com/
8
Other Meta Search Engines

• MetaCrawler http//www.metacrawler.com/info.metac
  /dog/index.htm
• SurfWax
• http//www.surfwax.com/

9
Subject Directoriesare

• Specialized collections of websites
• Selected by humans, not computers
• A place to find the best websites for your search

10
When do I use a subject directory?

• When you need to find information from an
  educational site
• When you want results gathered by experts
• When you dont have time to look through
  thousands of web pages

11
Examples of Subject Directories

• Librarians Index to the Internethttp//lii.org/
  
• BUBL Link 515http//bubl.ac.uk/link/

12
Subject directories for children

• http//www.kidsclick.org/
• http//www.yahooligans.com/
• http//www.ajkids.com/

13
Searching with Children
Some search engines offer family filter options,
to eliminate offensive sites.

14
For example, Mamma and Alta Vistas advanced
search features allow you to limit your search
by domains, so you can limit your search to
.edu or .gov sites.
15
Mamma also has anadult content filter
16
Now, how do I search?

• Plain English, or natural language searches
  prompt you to ask a question.
• Ask Jeeves uses a natural language
  feature.http//www.ask.com

17
Boolean Searching

• When you want to look for more than one word or
  phrase, use Boolean operators
• Boolean operators are words like and, or, not
  near, which will refine your search.

18
Many search engines use Boolean operators

• alltheweb
• AltaVista
• Google

19
Any further questions?

• You can always check the Help section of a search
  engine or subject directory for precise
  information regarding search strategies.

20
Congratulations, you have broken through the
searching barriers of the Internet. You are now
free to search the web!
21
Citations

• Internet Quote. D.C. Denison 2003.
• Ask Jeeves Logo 18 April 2003.
  .
• Ask Jeeves for Kids Logo. 17 April 2003.
  .
• KidsClick Logo. KidsClick. 17 April 2003
  .
• Mamma Logos. Mamma. 16 April 2003
  .
• Yahooligans Logo. Yahooligans. 17 April 2003.
  .