Classroom using the web

How to Search the Web and Find What You Want

Classroom

[ introduction ]
[ know what you're looking at ]
 [ searching tips ]

[ introduction ]
[ know what you're looking at ]
 [ searching tips ]

[ introduction ]
[ know what you're looking at ]
 [ searching tips ]

Needle in a Haystack?-How to search the web and find what you want

Learning how to use your browser is the first part of being able to navigate the net effectively, but with it being so huge - and constantly changing - sometimes searching for something on the Internet feels like trying to eat soup with a fork. Here's our guide to making the whole experience a bit easier:

Know What You're Looking At

There are actually four types of "Search Engines," all of which work in different ways.

Search Engine - This is a kind of database which searches through millions of web pages to find keywords you enter and then ranks them from most relevant to least relevant. The more common your keywords the more results you will get. This is also known as a "spider," because it automatically moves across the web searching for more pages to add to its database. The advantage of this is that often databases are very large and updated steadily around the clock. The advantages of this kind of service is their data bases are very large and updated often by spiders working around the clock. The pages are catalogued automatically without human involvement though, which means you'll get lots of hits which won't necessarily be what you're looking for; also you will get lots of pages coming up as matches. Looking through them all can be a bit daunting sometimes so try and narrow down your search by using very specific keywords.
Eg. www.altavista.com

Search Directory - A search directory looks through a hierarchically organised database, starting with general subjects and working down to more specific subjects. Usually there are humans that decide what will be in the search directory. To have a Web site listed in a directory you must submit it yourself, or hire a company to do it for you, and in the end it is the directory that decides where they catalogue your site. This means directories contain far fewer sites than spider-style search engines do, but they can be better targeted to your keyword.
Eg www.yahoo.com, www.mckinley.com

Directory / Search Engine- This combines the above two types of searches, meaning you can search either by keyword or click on a subject and keep narrowing it down until you find what you want. Yahoo is probably the most well known of this kind of search engine, and works together with the search engine Google.
Eg www.yahoo.com, www.google.com

Meta Search Engine - This is the most powerful way of searching as it allows you to use multiple search engines at once. Although you may get less results than you would with other searches they are often more relevant. Some meta search engines combine their results and remove duplicates, whilst others display results grouped by search engine.
Eg www.metacrawler.com
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Searching Tips

* Select your keywords carefully - the more specific they are the more relevant your search results will be.

* Avoid common words like a, the, is, Internet, online, www. Just use the most relevant words or you will get millions of results, most of which probably aren't relevant.

* Try different search engines. There are loads out there so if you don't find what you want then keep looking. Search engines don't all list the same sites, so the more places you look the more things you'll find. Also bear in mind that some advertisers pay for their sites to be put at the top of your list of search results, even if they aren't necessarily the best match. By using more than one search engine you can get a clearer picture of sites which could be of use to you, rather than sites which have lots of money to pay for adverts!

* Look out for links from other pages which you visit. If you know and like a site then consider checking out their links - they'll probably be on similar topics and it's nice sometimes to try out the odd personal recommendation.

* Play guess the domain. If you aren't sure about something, try making your keyword into a web address and see what happens. Point your browser at www.youthwork.com. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't, but you can try

* If you're looking for information specific to your home country, use search engines which can limit to sites in your country. Yahoo has lots of different versions for countries across the world and is a good place to start. Also watch out for the end of web addresses, as this can give you a clue as to where something is based. Some of the most common examples are: .ar (Argentina), .au (Australia), .be (Belgium), .br (Brazil), .ca (Canada), .de (Germany), .es (Spain), .fi (Finland), .fr (France), .gr (Greece), .hk (Hong Kong), .ie (Ireland), .in (India), .il (Israel), .is (Iceland), .it (Italy), .jp (Japan), .se (Sweden), .tr (Turkey) .tw (Taiwan), .uk (United Kingdom).

* If you are looking for a specific phrase put quotation marks around it. "Youth Work" will bring up only youthwork sites, as opposed to sites about youth and / or working!
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And now you're ready for the next tutorial: Language of the Net