Lecture
During this week's lecture we took an in depth look at search engines in general and the different types of search tools and options that are available to us.
A search engine in itself is a web-based application that looks through the Internet, creating indices which are most often based on textual information.
There are hundreds of search engines on the world wide web, but the most popular include, Google, Altavista, Yahoo and Alltheweb. Whilst search engines are extremely help full they do still have several problems. The major being that they return far too many results due to the fact that they have very weak relevance or quality filtering of these results.
This is a problem that is becoming increasingly worrying, because of the fact that the Internet is growing exponentially and this issue is not being dealt with.There are, however, several other smaller problems with web based search engines.
These include things such as not filtering broken links, misuse of the page ranking system, and building endless indices that include completely irrelevant results. Luckily for us there are some things that we can do to ensure that we receive more accurate results.
First of all we must remember to only use appropriate keywords and refrain from using commonly found words.
Secondly you must know what he is searching for. For example, if you were to search for a phrase, it would be much more effective to use ' '"(quotation marks)' at the beginning and end of all phrases. You may also use the '+' & '-' signs to add or remove certain additional topics to your original one. For example if one was to search 'jaguar' + cat, he would receive information on the animal jaguar, whilst if one was to search 'jaguar' -cat, he would only not receive any information on the word jaguar in relation to animals.
Last, but not least, most search engines have advanced options and in many cases familiarizing yourself with these can lead to much more accurate results as well.
Tutorial
During this weeks workshop we were required to complete three tasks. The first was to work through an interactive tutorial on search engines, listing four strategies that will help in structuring a good search. The next task was to complete an online quiz and take a screen shot of our end result and finally to discuss and summarise what we have learnt so far about information on the Internet and using search engines.
The four strategies that help in structuring a good search are:
- For keyword searches, use several words.
- Read the search tips or help information at each search engine.
- Use many search engines, not just one- you will get a greater variety.
- Select the appropriate search type, in many cases you will find relevant information in directories rather than search engines.
The second task was to complete an online quiz at http://siteseen.co.uk/questions/generalknowledgehard/ and post a screen shot of our end result.
The final task was to discuss and summarise what we have learn about information on the Internet and the use of search engines. In my personal opinion the Internet is a great source of information and we just simply have to learn how to sift through the useless junk to get to the use full data. It is all there, we just simply have to learn how to get to it. This is why the innovative minds of today have given us web based search engines. Whilst at times they are not as effective as we would hope, with some basic knowledge it is very easy to come to the results that you want. Whether it is using Boolean operators or simply taking advantage of the advanced search option, the tools are there for us to come to the right information. As the Internet continues to grow exponentially we can only hope that so too, do search engines and their effectiveness in presenting relevant results.
Extra Reading
Internet Search Tips and Strategies
http://www.virtualsalt.com/howlook.htm
This website takes an in-depth look into using Internet search engines and what tips and strategies can be used to maximise the effectiveness of our results. It covers everything from the different categories of information on the web all the way to the different search tool types, tips and strategies. I found this to be very help full is it is probably the most user friendly comprehensive list of searching tips and strategies. All of them are quite straight forward, but are things that many of us miss and can easily learn to end up with much better results.
Chapter Four: Search Engines
http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/ivh/chap4.htm
This website actually covers the history of web based search engines. It takes a look at how search engines first started, how they work and all the forms of search engines that are used electronically in today's world. This website isn't necessarily something that will help people in retrieving more accurate results but serves the purpose of informing people of their background history. I personally found all of the information interesting as most of it was very new to me and I would image that very few people actually understand or know about the history of search engines.
Search Engine Optimisation for Companies
http://www.websight.net.au/search-engine-optimisation.asp
This website is a Search Engine Optimization for small business marketing strategies to Australian and international companies.
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