Search+Engines

**Web Searching Basics**

I'm certain that many of you are fairly web savvy students, capable of finding information on any given topic. However, being and efficient web searcher is a useful, and practical skill. Before you can effectively search the Internet for information, you need to have a basic understanding of how the Internet, and Search engines operate. **What is a search engine?** A search engine is an index of other web sites. One of the faults of the Internet is that it is quite unorganized. Search engines attempt to provide some order to the Internet by organizing sites and allowing the sites that it indexes to be searched. **How do search engines find sites?** Search engines find sites by sending out tiny electronic **spiders** that crawl around the Internet and collect information about web sites. They then return to their home search engine, and input the information about the site into an index where that information can be accessed by a user. Search engines generally collect two types of information: **meta tags**, and **keywords**. >> For example, the Nike web site meta tag contains the following keywords: //sports, sporting goods, sports equipment, sports apparel// ||  || 
 * ** Meta tags are special html tags that provide information about web pages, information such as who created the page, when it was last updated, what is the page about, and which keywords represent the pages content.
 * Keywords are important terms related to the web site, or to the content of the web site.
 * Keywords are important terms related to the web site, or to the content of the web site.

||  //Google is a very popular search engine.// || **What is the difference between a search engine and a web site directory like Yahoo?** //Yahoo! is a very popular web directory// ||
 * *** Web directories are different from search engines in that they don't look for sites. People who build sites submit their sites to the directory, and people that work for the directory then categorize the web site where it sees fit. || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[[image:http://us.geo1.yimg.com/pic.geocities.com/us/i/geo/ao/us_cat.gif width="151" height="39" align="top" caption="[ Yahoo! ]" link="http://www.yahoo.com/"]] [|options] <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * Refining Your Search Using Search Math

Using the + sign** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Finding information on the Internet is easy. Finding the information that you want on the Internet is a completely different story! By following some very simple rules when using search engines you can eliminate thousands of useless unrelated search results. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The strategy is called "Search Math." Search math is a method of combining terms in order to eliminate unwanted results. To see how search math works, go to [|www.google.com], search each term and then record the results. Then search the combined terms using a + sign. || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

|| <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

|| <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">

|| " || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">archaeology  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">archaeology + Mesopotamia  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">archaeology + Mesopotamia + pottery  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">search the following terms: <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Record the number of results  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the example above, Google searches its database for the term **"archeology"** it then combines the term with **"Mesopotamia"**, eliminating documents which don't contain both terms. || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the example above, Google searches its database for the term **"archeology"** it then combines the term with **"Mesopotamia"** and **"pottery"**, eliminating documents which don't contain all three terms. ||  ||

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * Using the - sign**

You can also use search math to subtract terms from your search, for example, if you want information on one term, but not on another. go to [|www.google.com], search each term and then record the results. Then search the combined terms using a - sign. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || " || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pets  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pets -dogs  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pets -dogs -cats  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Using the " "**  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The final and perhaps most useful search strategy is using quotations around your terms. Quotations tell the search engine to search for the phrase that you entered exactly as it appears in documents.    ||  ||  ||  || "  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chess  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"chess grandmasters"  || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"American chess grandmasters"  ||
 * |||| <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">//When using the minus sign, you must type the minus and then the keyword with no space. If you type a space after the minus sign, the search engine may interpret the minus sign as a dash, and as such, may **increase** your chances of finding pages containing the word you were trying to eliminate!// ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bad use of minus || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">good use of minus  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pets - dogs || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pets -dogs ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">search the following terms: <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Record the number of results  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the example above, Google searches its database for the term "pets" it then combines the term with dogs, eliminating documents which contain the subtracted term. || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the example above, Google searches its database for the term "pets" it then combines the term with dogs, and with the term "cats" eliminating documents which contain both subtracted terms. ||  ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">search the following terms: <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Record the number of results  ||   ||   ||   ||

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, you can combine terms and strategies in order to further refine your site:
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Lord of the Rings" -"The Two Towers" **
 * **<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Harry Potter" -books - movies **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember, web searching is an imperfect science. There is no guarantee that sticking a minus sign in will always eliminate that term. Also note that different search engines search and use these terms in slightly different ways. But, for the most part, they should do what they are supposed to, and they will likely get you a lot closer to the results that you ar actually looking for!. ||

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Using The + Symbol to Add** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Using The - Symbol to Subtract** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Using Quotation Marks To Multiply** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Very quickly you can see how search engine math can help you to eliminate things that are less relevant to your search. This will save you time and make searching more productive for you!Create an example just like I did where you show how using search engine math can help you to find exactly what you are looking for. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more on Search Math, visit [|searchenginewatch.com] <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|Let's have some fun! Lets go Google Whacking!]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using the + symbol, how might you search for documents containing the words "Stevie Ray Vaughn"
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using the + symbol, how might you search for documents containing the words "Stevie Ray Vaughn" and the musical genre "Texas Blues?"
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Describe how you would go about searching for an Eco-tourism resort in Saskatchewan.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create an example of your own where you might use the add symbol to refine your search.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would you search for documents that relate to hockey, but not to professional hockey?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How would you search for documents that relate to women’s hockey, but not to professional women’s hockey?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create an example of your own where you might use the subtract symbol to refine your search.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using quotation marks, how would you find pages that contain information related to women’s hockey in Canada?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Create an example of your own where you might use quotation marks to refine your search.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pick a topic and do a search
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pick a sub topic, and use search math to refine it
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add a third subtopic to refine it even farther.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">show your results in a table like I have done above.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do this for +, - and " ".