CLASSROOM MATTERS
Searching the Web
Let's face it: the web is full of great information, but there's a lot of junk and irrelevant stuff out there, too. So what's the best way to do research on the web? How do you find the information you're looking for and leave out all the other stuff?
Well, there's no perfect solution. But here are some tips that can really help you out.
To start with, you can print this page out so it's easier to read.
You can also go straight to the quick reference or see a comparison of some of the best search engines.
Now on to the good stuff....
Search Engines vs. Directories
There's a real difference between a site like AltaVista and a site like Yahoo! AltaVista is a search engine, which means it contains a full-text index of millions of web pages. When you enter some keywords into the AltaVista search engine, it checks to see if the words you entered appear on any of the pages it has in its index. You can do a search like this on Yahoo! as well, but Yahoo! is really a big collection of subject categories, with pages organized under them.
So if you want to do a search, use a search engine. If you want to see your information in the context of other subject areas, use a directory.
Here's an example: If you type Triangle Fire into AltaVista, you'll get more than 2 million pages returned. Out of the first ten, two of them are about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, and eight of them are about the way combustion works.
If you type Triangle Fire into Yahoo!, you'll get 11 categories. The first one is Arts > Humanities > History > U.S. History > By Time Period > 20th Century > Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. From here, you can go directly to the sites about the Triangle Fire, or you can back out one level in the directory to see other sites about 20th-century American history.
Does this mean that it's always better to use a directory site like Yahoo!?
No! If you make your search smarter, then a search engine can be really useful. Search engines cover a lot more of the web than directory sites do.
Making Your Searches Smarter
There are two easy things you can do to make your searches smarter: use plus signs and phrases.
Here's the deal with plus signs: different search engines handle your keywords differently from one another. If you type Triangle Fire into AltaVista, it looks for all the pages that contain the words Triangle AND Fire. If you type the same thing into Infoseek, it looks for all the pages that contain either the word Triangle OR the word Fire, with the pages containing both listed first. To force a search engine to take the AND approach, use plus signs in front of all the words you want to retrieve:
+Triangle +Fire
No matter what search engine you're using, this means Triangle AND Fire.
The very best way to use a search engine is to use phrases and your own brain. Using double quote marks forces the search engine to find pages that contain your keywords grouped together: type "Triangle Fire" into AltaVista and you'll get 197 pages (that's a lot better than 2 million!). But there are still some irrelevant hits here: information about the Triangle Fire District tax base in North Carolina, for example
This is where your own brain comes in. Use a really smart phrase and you'll get really smart answers: if you're doing research on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, use that as your phrase. Type "Triangle Shirtwaist Fire" into AltaVista and you'll get 170 pages about the subject you're really interested in.
Here's a handy table that summarizes all of this:
Web Searching Quick Reference
- Place the plus sign ( + ) in front of all words you wish to retrieve:
+migration +lemmings- Place a phrase within double quotations:
"Spanish-American War"- Putting it all together:
+"immigration policy" +"New Zealand For really detailed information about the best ways to do research on the web, you might want to read Important Things to Know Before You Begin Searching the WWW. It's from the UC Berkeley library and it has links to a really detailed strategies page and a great comparison of major search engines and directories. These are good pages to print out and keep handy!