Santa Rosa District SchoolsProfessional Development Center

Budgie Latshaw

Search Engines

An Internet search tool that searches sites for key wordsSearch their own database of informationDeploys robots or spiders to find incidences of key words to add to its database

What do the results mean?Results are presented in order of relevance

Relevancy rankings based on a formula

Different methods of collection

How do I formulate my search?

Identify important concepts within the question

Identify keywords and related synonyms

Read the HELP!

Boolean SearchesUsing terms to broaden or narrow your search

Uses AND, OR, NOT

Or +, -

Boolean ExamplesEndangered AND species AND mammals NOT bears

endangered speciesmammals

AND

NOT

Boolean ExamplesIf you were looking for non-surgical treatments for glaucoma…

glaucoma +treatment -surgical

Does the engine support:

Quotation marks?

Capital letters?

Wildcards, truncations or word stem?

Search EnginesGoogle: www.google.comWisenut: www.wisenut.comHotBot: www.hotbot.comTeoma: teoma.comAll the Web: www.alltheweb.com

Search DirectoriesOrganized by subject

User works down a series of menus

Organized by HUMANS

Smaller database than engines

Search DirectoriesYahoo!: www.yahoo.comInfomine: infomine.ucr.edu The Open Directory: dmoz.orgAbout.com: about.comLibrarians” Index to the Internet: lii.orgNational Directory: www.nationaldirectory.com

Which is better -- an engine or a directory?

Personal preference

Directories allow the user to form the search, but may not use common terms

Search engines allow the user to use common language, but may lead to lots of hits

Build a Better QueryUse the advanced search feature

Use many words, not just a few

Search for your target words, and synonyms

Search for phrases in quotation

Read the search engine’s help files

Did I say?Read the HELP!

Meta Search ToolsSearch tool that uses other engines’ databases

“Skims the surface” of multiple databases

Typically used after other engines have failed

Meta Search Tools

Meta Search Tools

Dogpile www.dogpile.com

Vivisimo vivisimo.com

MetaCrawler www.metacrawler.com

Specialized Search ToolsNews Engines

Library-based Search Tools

Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Purpose

Noodle Tools: Debbie Abilock

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

Search well!