Todays lecture was all about search engines. Most of us use one search engine and we use it without the knowledge that there is not much use in the first few pages of work that comes up with our generalised search of for example fashion. At the start of the lecture we were asked to answer a few simple questions:
* List at least 4 search engines ?
- yahoo
- dog pile
- ninemsn
* what are some of the problems you encounter when using search engines?
- information that is un-truthful & wrong
- Getting the first page filled with irrelevant things that you accidently use
- you generally choose the first listing and use it.
* what are some strategies that you use to over come these problems?
- use the advanced search option that is on most search engines
- take a look at say the 3rd of 4th pages of search results because you can find some really good information there.
- dont just use the first two listings that you get because it doesnt mean they are truthful and reliable it could just be that the person who owns the site paid the search engine and thats why they are on top.
* what is meant by the boolean search?
- The boolean search is using such words as and or not in a search term. For example Mercedes not Car [so you would get all listings that wernt about the car but about perhaps the name] and apple and ipod [this way you wont be getting any irrelivant search results to do with the apple as in the food & you will get the results you want]
* what are some features of the advanced search in google?
- The advanced search option in google is great. You have the choice to put in a general web search at the top and then you can type in the exact phrasing that you would like to be in the results and then you can type in the type of document you would like to be found wether it be a slide show or a pdf.
Overall from the lecture we have learnt how to use search engines more wisely and treat all inforrmation we get from them with catution. And that google is not the only search engine out there and sometimes you can get diffrent results from diffrent search engines.
2. Tutorial summary
a) How to structure a good search according to www.monash.com/spidap.html :
* If you are unclear as to where you should start searching if you are doing an assignment you should use an open directory such as google or yahoo; However if you have a clean idea as to what it is you are searching for you can use a web directory and this will provide you with more concentrated results.
* To search you should use keywords that are common to the subject your are searching but un-common to most other things to minimise the amount of un-useful search results.
* You should attempt to use the advanced search option of open directory to make sure that all information you get is relevant to the subject.
* Try using a boolean search; this means including words such as: and, not, & or; by doing this you reduce the amount of search results.
b) list the strategies that you used to locate your answers and explain their effectiveness:
I didnt really use a strategie to find the answers to my questions i basically just used google, because the questions had common knowledge answers to them. It was highly effecitve as i found all the right answers.
c) summarize what you have learnt during this module about information found on the internet and ways to find tinformation using search engines.
During this module i have learnt that i need to refine my searches alot more that i do through open directories to make sure the information i get is authentic and reliable.
3. screen shots.
quiz results page
4. reading summary 1 - robert harris - web search strategies
Through the reading of this article i have learnt that There are diffrent types of web catagories. they are:
- The free visible web which is basically what you can find through search engines.
- The free invisible web which is articles and documents free to web browsers if they can find it.
- Paid databases over the web which are a collection of journals, articles and documents but you can only access them if you pay money to the host of the database.
There are also two diffrent types of search tools those are the search engines such as google and yahoo and then there are directories which are lists of websites that are chosen by human editors these websites should be always usful and reliable.
5. reading 2 summary - the history of the intenet (chap 4 - search engines)
This article showed us the various things that have been created along with the web throughout the years. As well as the information on how to find just what you want on the web which is basically what the last article outlined and went over. This article provides the same information about the web that the last one did but it also included a list of directories and their urls which was helpful.
6. Reading 3 summary - Search engine optimization for companies.
this article is mostly aimed at those that own companies and it tells them how to get the top spot in search engine searches with multiple keywords. It explains the need to set a benchmark for your companies website and show how much some key words are getting searched, this way you can monitor your companies popularity and see which words are not getting searched. This article is aimed as a selling point for companies that cant set up their own website and that want to have the best chance at getting searched in search engines as possible.
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