Definition - Utilities
available on the Internet to help you find information among the millions
of documents on the Web. They help you find information on specific
topics.
Search Tools are
categorized into three types: Internet Directories, Search Engines and
Meta-Search Engines. Each type of searching tool accomplishes a different
task and locates information in a different way. For example, an Internet
directory will classify information by topic and also allows you to
choose one of the topics or type a keyword or phrase to search. A search
engine will search the entire contents of the Internet by keyword(s). A meta-search engine will
search a dozen different search engines and directories simultaneously
and display the ten best responses from each search engine.
Search Engines
AltaVista http://altavista.com
- searches through more than 30 million Web pages. Use "+" to indicate words
that must be contained on a page. Use "-" for words that must not be contained
on pages. Quotation marks must be used for searching phrases.
Excite - http://www.excite.com
Searches 50 million Web sites. Provides expanded features to include
proper names and keyword weighting by using the ^.
Magellan - http://magellan.excite.com
Browse or search more than 50 million resources, including 60,000 "green-light"
sites" that are guaranteed not to have material relating to pornography,
pedophilia, or hate groups.
Student oriented search
tools - Use these engines to limit the access to material with adult
content or to academic
based information. These may be very helpful in instructional settings,
but may also limit the response based on the findings within the material.
AltaVista has always been a widely used search
engine because it works quickly, updates regularly and scans documents for every
word. Try to take the following ride on the information highway searching for
information. (This exercise is based on an exercise created by Pati Terry from
Virginia Beach, VA)
SEARCHING STRATEGIES
1. Never us one word for a search. Use quotes for phrases. If you really want
to find fiction stories (and not just pages with those words)
put the phrase inside quotation marks. The search
"fiction stories" -science
“types of poetry” +haiku
will yield many fewer hits. It will be more manageable.
2. Use the "+" and the "-"
operators between words or phrases (Boolean search)
Prefix your search words with the "+“ to indicate that they MUST
occur in a page to be considered a hit, and use "-" to exclude pages.
For example
“Haiku poetry” +flowers
will find only pages that contain Haiku poetry
including flowers. By adding an exclusion term as shown below, the number of
hits drops will be greatly reduced.
“fiction stories” –science
3. You can also exclude a website or an entire
domain from a search by requesting a specific domain.
“types of poetry” +haiku +domain:edu
(if you only want sites that end in “edu”)
This example eliminates all documents from an entire
domain (commercial), and the addition of other domains eliminates those as well.
(or you can exclude domains)
“Haiku poetry” -domain:net -domain:org
4. Use the "host" and "domain"
keywords
Try looking for a specific word or word at just one website by using a search
like this:
(no space after host)
"George Washington" +host:www.timeforkids.com
“George Washington” +host:www.whitehouse.gov
This will find articles about George Washington published only at the Time For
Kids website.
5. Use the "image" key word
Looking for a special photo or icon? Try something like this:
image: George Washinton.jpg
or click the "image" tab at the top of the Search Engine to request
images
6. Use the "title" keyboard if you're
looking for pages on a specific topic, instead of pages that just contain certain
words, try limiting your search to: (no space after title)
title:“types of poetry"
This often helps to weed out unwanted hits. The
fact that someone bothered to categorize their page with a <TITLE> keyword
should help you get better quality matching documents. Of course, some words
will be specific to get results.
7. The "url" keyword finds pages with
specific characters in the address. Here are some examples:
url: language arts worksheets - finds pages with
"language arts worksheet" in the address
url: algebra lesson plans – find pages with”algebra lesson plans”
in the address
8. Use the "link" and "URL"
keyboard
The "link" keyword finds pages that contain a link to another page,
and
link: schoollink.org/twin - finds pages linked
to Sheila Gersh’s website
url: worksheet - finds
pages with "worksheet" in the address
9. Multimedia Searches
Searching for specific forms of multimedia on
the Internet is relatively easy. In addition to identifying your major
topic or theme, consider adding the file extension type to your search.
For example, to locate a sound file for a wolf you might use
+wolf.wav
The extensions used for the various media formats
may include:
text
.txt,.htm,.html
Audio
.au, .aiff, .wav, .midi, .mp3, ra
images
.gif, .jpg, .tiff, .bmp
Video
.mov, mpg, .movie, .moov, .avi, .rm
Test your browser's ability to handle various
formats at: