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Here are a few steps to
make your Internet searches effective and useful!
Watch this short video on Web Search
Strategies from Common Craft for great searching tips. Just click on the button
below.
1. Decide what your search is going to be. List
any keywords, synonyms, and related words that may help you find the information
you are looking for.
2. Chose the type of
searching tool you wish to use. There are three main types of searching tools:
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Search Engines- |
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Search engines are indexed
by keywords. Spiders,
computer programs that count the number of times a keyword appears in a
web page, are used for indexing the web sites. These sites are useful when
you have a specific term or phrase that you are looking for. Remember,
though, that search engines do not find synonyms or related words, only an
exact match to your search. |
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Some
helpful search strategies: |
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Boolean
Operators- |
These help you narrow or
expand a search. |
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Link words together with AND
or NOT to narrow a search.
For example, to search for eagle (the bird), you may want to type
"eagle NOT football" to make sure you don't get any Philadelphia
Eagles web sites! |
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OR
allows you to expand your search topic when there are synonyms for your
topic. For example, "dog OR canine" will help you find
additional web sites about dogs. |
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Natural
Language- |
Natural Language searches
allow you to search by stating your full question using familiar English
sentences or questions. For example, you could type the search, "What
is the longest river in the world?" The search engine will pick out
the important terms and add Boolean Operators for you. Check to make sure
a particular search engine supports Natural Language searching! |
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Search Directories |
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These resources are
indexed by subject. Instead
of using spiders, search directories are viewed and categorized by a
person. These sites are useful when you are searching for a specific,
clearly defined subject, such as the American Revolution.
Subject directories are like trees where a general topic branches into
more specific topics. Subject directories, because they are indexed by
people, take into account synonyms and related terms. (Examples are
Yahooligans
and Internet Public Library.) |
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Metasearch Engines |
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These searching tools
search several other search engines and report the best hits back to you.
Some of these engines rank and organize the best results for you. Before
you use a metasearch engine, make sure your topic is clearly defined,
otherwise you may get hundreds or thousands of hits! (Ask
for Kids) |
3. Once you find a web page that appears to be on
your topic, look at it critically. You need to think about the following things:
| Is it reliable? |
Does the information on this web page seem correct? Who, or
what, is the source of the information on the web page? Can you trust
them? Do they have a bias, or purpose, for giving this information? |
| Is it relevant? |
Is this information that you need for your project? |
| Is it current? |
Is the information up-to-date and recent? When was the web
page last updated? |
4. Now you are ready to take your notes! Don't
forget to include the source in your bibliography!
Return to Bowie's
Library Links Internet Searching web page.
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