Google and More

Search Engines and Web Based Directories, how to target a search and evaluate the results

Most users want a single search engine that delivers 3 key features:

Relevant results

Uncluttered easy to read interface

Helpful options to broaden or tighten the search

www.google.ca

Google is king of the search engines. It is fast, relevant, and the largest single index of web pages available today.

Google offers good extras with maps, images, news etc. all in one place.

There are ways to refine a search to avoid an overwhelming number of results

Field Searching

Title FieldTitle field searching allows the user to: Focus on the main topic Find more relevant web pages It’s good to use when searching for places,

people, events and popular topics

Intitle: will search the first word in the title and the following words anywhere.Exampleintitle:hurricane katrina intitle:recycling students teachers

Allintitle: will search all words in the title field.Exampleallintitle:recycling students teachers

Domain (site) Field This allows the user to: Search within a full domain name, i.e. within

a specific site such as gc.ca Or to restrict the results to a specific top-

level domain, .edu, .orgExamples site:gc.ca copyrightsite:gc.ca h1n1spelling exercises site:edusite:edu nutrition

Domain Field – Benefits

Very good way to narrow searches, especially if you want to explore a particular website

The user can restrict results to a type of website such as academic sites or government sites

File Type Field

Allows the user to restrict their search by specific file types such as ppt, xls, pdf.

Examples

filetype:xls organic crops

filetype:ppt organic crops

Definition Field

A very quick way to access definitions

Allows user to listen to the correct pronunciation.

Examplesdefine:elegydefine:ebitda

Tips for Google Be as specific as you can with your search

statement eg. war of 1812 causes, not just history of wars

Use ~ to include synonyms for some words eg. rockies ~guide will include synonyms for guide such as map, tips, help, pathfinder etc

Use phrase searching to avoid stop words eg. “how to knit” or “one small step for a man”

Alternatives to Google

Why bother? Search a different index of webpages View search results that are compiled by

different rankings Use additional features not available with

Google

http://duckduckgo.com

- no clutter, no spam, very clean spartan look

- “zero-click” information, all your answers are found on the first results page

- offers prompts to help clarify what question you are really asking

- additional goodies

http://yippy.com

- a Deep Web search engine that searches other search engines for you

- reaches pages that are harder to locate by a conventional search

- it clusters the results

www.hakia.com

- intelligent search, matches by concept or idea rather than word

- sites are selected and evaluated, so fewer results but more reliable

www.exalead.com/search

-Very visual with bookmarks for each site

-Suggests related terms

-Can limit search by file type and site type

http://ca.yahoo.com

- more like a web portal than just a search engine

- has tabs for images, video, news, etc.

- has “also try” tips and related searches

- results can be filtered by time

Subject Directories

Websites are organized by subject or category

Allows users to find information when the precise need is unknown

Provides reliable websites selected by experts

Subject Directories – Examples by Coverage

Selective

Internet Public Librarywww.ipl.org

Awesome Librarywww.awesomelibrary.org

Canadian Emphasis

Library and Archives Canada

http:/www.collectionscanada.ca/caninfo/ecaninfo.htm

Virtual Reference Library

http://www.virtualreferencelibrary.ca

Academic Orientation

Infomine

http://infomine.ucr.edu/

Academic Info

http://www.academicinfo.net

Comprehensive

Yahoo! Directory

http://dir.yahoo.com

Open Directory

http://www.dmoz.org

How to Evaluate a Website

The user must consider the following: Accuracy Authority, the person/organization behind the site Purpose, to inform or to persuade Objectivity Currency Coverage, does it go into enough detail for the

user’s needs Popularity, have many people linked to the site

Checklist for evaluating websites

Dalhousie University Libraries. Checklist for Evaluating Websites

http://www.library.dal.ca/How/Guides/Checklist