Module 11
Internet Searching
About Subject Directories
About Search Engines
Search Engine Techniques

Contents:
Introduction
Module 1: How to Solve an Information Problem
Module 2: Search Techniques
Module 3: SD Library Network
Module 4: Proquest
Module 5: Infotrac
Module 6: Lexis-Nexis
Module 7: OCLC Firstsearch
Module 8: 
Module 9: 
Module 10: 
Module 12: Evaluating Internet sources
Module 13: Scholarly vs. Popular
Module 14: Citing sources
Module 15: How to Get Material Not Available Online

Module 11 About Search Engines

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A search engine consists of a a large database and a search program to search it. The database is created by a "robot" that travels the 'net on a regular basis. Some search engines also allow a web site's owner or manager to request that their site be included in the database. That database is searched when you submit words that describe your topic to the search engine, and the search engine retrieves a list of sites from its database that match your request. Excite and Hotbot are examples of search engines.

A search engine will frequently provide subject categorization of the sites in its database. This may look similar to a selective subject directory, but no selection for quality is involved in this process. Typically, a computer program decides what subject category a link falls into, so human intervention is not involved in the subject categorization of links in a search engine.

The database of a search engine may consist of information in webpage titles, URLs (webpage addresses), and webpage content and links. In addition to searching the World Wide Web, some engines also have options to search Usenet groups, e-mail addresses, etc.

To improve your search results

1. Search more than one search engine...
because different search engines produce different results.

When you submit words that describe your topic to a search engine, the search engine retrieves a list of sites from its database that match your request.

Because the robots start in different places and work in different ways, they create databases that are very different from one another. So the results of using one search engine will be very different from the results of another.

If you are trying to find "everything out there" on the Web, you need to use more than one search engine.

2. Try other search engines when your "favorites" fail...
because the "best" search engine may be different for different searches.

While one search engine may perform very well for one search, it may perform very poorly for another because of the topic, the nature of the information needed, the size or contents of the database being searched, or for other reasons.

The "best" search engine is the one that works, so be flexible about trying a different search engine when your favorite search engines fail.

For example, you might start with a search engine that has a smaller database such as Infoseek. If that fails to find what you want, move to a search engine with a larger database such as Alta Vista.

3. Read any search tips, help, or instructions...
because techniques for searching vary from search engine to search engine.

Each search engine has its own rules for entering searches. Some allow you to combine words using the connectors AND, OR or NOT while others do not. Some allow the use of punctuation to indicate phrase searching, and so forth.

When you select a search engine, find out how to search by looking for "help", "instructions", "search tips" or some other related phrase that leads to instructions for searching.

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