Quick Tips for Better Internet Searching

1. Use Advanced Search features to refine searches, find images or other file types.
2. Use more than one search tool. Even the best tool doesn’t index every good Web site.
3. Ask yourself who might have this information; go directly to that organization’s Web site.
4. Use the Help screens of the individual search tools.

Why do I need a search tool?

Basics of Internet Searching

Search Engines and Subject Directories

When you use a search tool (whether a subject directory or a search engine) you are looking at a listing of Web pages. The search tool has created an index to those Web pages. You will be searching its index rather than the “raw” Internet.

There are two standard ways to index the web pages:

Full-text indexing in which almost every word from the Web site is searchable by you. If what you want to find is not the main topic of the Web site or if it is contained on other than the main page of the Web site, full-text searching may be the only way to find it. You may get too many matches including multiple entries for the same Web site, so take time to refine your search and be precise. AlltheWeb, AltaVista and Google use full-text indexing for their search engines.

Subject indexing in which only the “important” words and phrases are searchable by you. You will get fewer hits (and fewer duplicates) and they should, in most cases, be better matches for you. Although subject indexing can be done completely by computer, the best search tools use humans to refine the list of Web sites available to you. About, OpenDirectory, Yahoo (for adults) and, KidsClick! and Yahooligans (for kids) use subject indexing and human selection for their subject directories.

First Search Strategy

Should you use a Search Engine or a Subject Directory?

Do you want to find something very specific, or
Do you know some very targeted or unique words, or
Are you planning what may be commonly referred to as a keyword search?

Then use a search engine.

Do you want to find something more general – maybe an overview, or
Are you unsure about what words to use, or
Are you planning what may be commonly referred to as a subject search?

Then use a subject directory.

Second Search Strategy

Choose one of the search engines above such as Google,Teoma, etc. Begin by entering any terms relevant to your search. For example,if you are looking for a list of the state capitals, you might enter "state capitals." If you cannot find the answer in the first page of results, try the third search strategy.

Third Search Strategy

Most search engines have an Advanced Search option. If you didn't find what you were looking for using the strategy above, click on Advanced Search. You are then given options such as:

• With all these words
• With this phrase
• Without these words
• With at least one of the words

Some search engines also allow you to limit the search by variables such as language, occurrences, file formats, domain or date.

You can take advantage of the Advanced Search options in the simple search by using the Boolean operators. You can enter the information yourself, combining terms as follows:

AND	the Web site must have both words
OR	the Web site may have one or both words
NOT	the Web site may not have this word
+	the Web site must have this word
-	the Web site may not have this word
“ ”	the Web site must have this exact phrase
( )	parentheses group words used with AND, OR, NOT

 

Fourth Search Strategy

Who might have this information?
Can you guess the Web address? (A Web address is also called a location or URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator.) CAUTION: You may not get to the Web site you expect with this method.

Lots of addresses have the same structure:

www. ________.com is a commercial Web site such as Disney, the Washington Post or Yahoo.

www. ________.gov is a government’s Web site such as Fairfax County or the White House.

www. ________.edu is an educational institution’s Web site such as George Mason University, the Smithsonian Institution or Miss Teacher’s first grade class.

www. ________.mil is a military Web site such as the United States Marine Corps.

www. ________.org is an organization’s Web site such as PBS or the American Red Cross. The _________ (the part that follows www) often follows a pattern. A Web address may be the full name with no spaces such as washingtonpost or it may be the initials such as usps (United States Postal Service.)

In-Depth Internet Searching Tutorials

Ask Scott: Web Searching Tutorial
The Help Web
Learn the Net
Blue Skyways
The Spider's Apprentice

Citing Online Sources

Citation Styles: Online: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources