WEEK FIVE

28.03.08

USING SEARCH ENGINES
Lecture
In the lecture today the main topic was 'search engines'
We learnt there are different types of search engines such as:

• Yahoo
• Google and Google Advanced Search
• Ultra Vista
  
  
  

We also we told the problems with some of the search engines and also learnt about search tools and feature or advances searches.
I learnt there are three different categories of information on the web.
These are:

• Free Web, Visible Web
• Free Web, Invisible Web
• Paid database over the web.
  

Lastly we were shown on the lecture slides tips when using search engines.
Some of these are:

• Use several search tools
• Read tips of help information
• Guess a location
• Use advanced to narrow you search
• Think about what you are searching (Key terms)
  

Tutorial
Task 1.
In toady's tutorial we were given a few tasks that continued on from our main topic in the Lecture 'search engines'.
We were asked to visit the web site http://www.monash.com/spidap.html and consider four strategies that will help us to structure a good search in our Learning Log.

The four strategies are:

• Define the key term. Put thought into what you are searching and type the main key term first.
• Use a Web Directory. This is a 'tree style catalogue' that consists of major topics and subject such as art or education. When you use this to search it breaks down the topic.
• Don't use 'stop words'. These unimportant words such as is, or, and, the are words that will not narrow down your search. Therefore you may get hundreds of search information to look at.
• Use the BOOLEAN system. These are located on the advanced search of an engine. You firstly type in the key term, then in the AND and OR sections type in important words that may be used.

This is a screen capture of the web site used to find the strategies.



Task 2.
We then had to complete an online quiz that consisted of random history questions.
Some examples of questions asked were:

• Who invented Dynamite ?
• Which of the famous people below died in 1939?
• In what year did the "Boston Tea Party" protest take place?

We had to use the strategies above to find the answers. I used Google's advanced search and also the search engine Ask Jeeves.
It was sometimes hard to narrow down the topic and find the answer. Using the advanced search helped a lot.

This is a screen capture of my results for the Online Quiz.

Task 3.
Some tips when searching for answers on the web or by using search engines are:

• Use key terms when typing
• Use quotation marks " ".
• Use a few search engines, not just the one.

These tips are very effective when searching for information on topics from the Internet using different search engines. It important to narrow down the key term for specific search results.

Reading.
This reading was a Web Search Strategies / Guide.
It included how to fine what you want on the web, but also make sure that is good and helpful research. It included categories of information on the web and search tool types when using the web.
This guide is very helpful when trying to narrow a topic down and search some thing specific.