Search Techniques

A Module of the CYC Course - Online Search and Information Literacy

8-28-10

Common Terms

• Internet is a series of computers connected together to share information. The World Wide Web is a subset of the Internet.

• A “URL” or “Web Address” is where a page is located.

• A browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) is a software program that allows easy use of the web.

• “Home Page” is a start page or 1st page of a website.

First Mistake to Avoid

• Typing the wrong things in the wrong boxes.– Use the address box when you have a web address.– Use the subject search box when you don’t know a specific

web address for the information you’re looking for.

The Address Box

The Search Box

Search Methods

• Search Engines• From search results:– Trim back a url– Follow links from a search result

• Search within a website

Search Engines

• Search Engine Examples– Google - http://google.com– Bing – http://bing.com

• Use keywords (not full sentences) to search millions of pages.

• In Google results, “sponsored links” are advertisements. Sometimes they are useful, sometimes not, but always keep in mind they showed up in your results because they paid to be there.

• Each search engine has a help page if you need suggestions on how to conduct your search.

Trim Back a URL

• Activity – Conduct any search• Choose a result with a long url and remove all

text in the address bar after the top level domain (such as .com, . org, .net)

• Press your enter key.• What did you find?

Search Within a Website

• Activity – find out what is meant by “urban legend”.

• Search for “urban legend”.• Choose the Snopes result.• Click around inside snopes.com to see if you

can find an explanation or definition.

Find it!

• Who played in the 1979 World Series?

Find it!

• What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Find it!

• Find the nearest thrift stores.

Sources

• This curriculum was adapted from a workshop created by N. Riesgraf for the Hibbing Public Library (MN). Funding provided by IRRRA Do I.T. Community Technology Awareness Program. Updated March 2004. Revised for Jacksonville Public Library Dec 2005 by Kate Holmes.

• Additional content created by Connect Your Community, a project of OneCommunity, funded by the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

Creative Commons License

• This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0