Finding Information on the Internet

Coky Fauzi Alfi

Why Search the Web?

A simple answer is that the Web is too large and unorganized to find much useful information.

Alternative Methods for Finding Information

• Typing in the web address of a known page (URL)

• Search engines

• Directories (or web catalogues)

• Browsing

Web ‘addresses’ or URLs

The most efficient method of finding information on the internet is through typing the web address or URL directly into the web browser.

How do We Know the URL?

• A word of mouth recommendation

• From advertisement or company promotional literature

• Simply making a good guess

How Web Search Engine Work

Search engines use special automatic tools known as spiders, crawler or robots to index web pages of registered sites.

What Search Engines Search

• Content• Tags

– Keyword– Description– Title– Heading– Links

What Search Engines Ignore

• Frames• Scripts• Java Applets and Plug-Ins• Server-Generated Pages• Forms• Images• Deeply Linked Pages• Reorganization and Broken Links

Major Search Engines

• Google – http://www.google.com

• Yahoo – http://search.yahoo.com

• MSN – http://search.msn.com

• AltaVista – http://www.altavista.com

• Alltheweb – http://www.alltheweb.com

Alternative Search Engines

• Vivísimo – http://www.vivisimo.com

• Dogpile – http://www.dogpile.com

• Ask.com or AskJeeves.com – http://www.ask.com

• SurfWax – http://www.surfwax.com

• Ixquick – http://www.ixquick.com

Mobile Search Engines

• http://mobile.google.com

• http://mobile.yahoo.com/search

• http://mobile.msn.com

Searching with Google

• Think “full text”war of 1812 economic causes

• Specify exact phrases“tom bates”

• Exclude or include a wordproliferation –nuclearobama +hussein

Searching with Google

• Web page titleintitle:hybrid

• Website or domainsite:whitehouse.gov

• File typefiletype:ppt site:edu “global warming”

Nine Very Cool Google Tricks

1. Definitionsdefine:wireless LAN

2. Calculator2+2

3. Phonebookphonebook: ansonia veterinary center NY

Nine Very Cool Google Tricks

4. Street Maps9 Princeton St Boston MA 02128

5. Stock Quotesstock quotes:MSFT

6. Patents, Tracking IDs, and Other Numeric Goodiespatent 5123123

Nine Very Cool Google Tricks

7. Weatherweather bloomington, indiana

8. Q&AQ&A:population of south korea

9. Moviesmovie: holy grail

Interpreting the Results

When Not to Use Google

• Google doesn't cluster results• Google isn’t good enough to find a person's email

address• Google isn't the best place to find what an abbreviation

stands for• Some topic-specific directories are simply more fine-

tuned than Google's regular full-text search• When working on an in-depth research project (like a

college thesis), Google doesn't help you catalog multiple search results, or let you take notes on interesting sites.

Web Catalogues or Directories

Massive online catalogs that are edited, sorted, and organized by humans

Major Web Directories

• http://directory.google.com

• http://dir.yahoo.com

• http://dmoz.org

Practical Tips for Managing Information

1.1. Using bookmarksUsing bookmarks

2.2. Printing informationPrinting information

3.3. Saving text for subsequent reading or Saving text for subsequent reading or printingprinting

4.4. Saving an image or diagramSaving an image or diagram

End