Internet Express 2: Searching

Internet Express: Lesson 1 | Internet Express: Lesson 2 | Internet Express: Lesson 3 Today, we’ll talk about how to find web sites and information on the Internet using a search directory called the Internet Reference Desk, and two search engines: Yahoo! and Google. Internet Reference Desk Yahoo! Google Web Searches Phrase Searching Evaluating Web Pages Other Google Searches Searching Practice How to Learn More I. Internet Reference Desk A search directory is a list of web pages chosen by a person (or people), and categorized by subject. The Gail Borden Public Library offers a search directory called the Internet Reference Desk. Here is its web address: http://www.gailborden.info/resources/reference.html You may also bring it up by visiting the library’s public web page (www.gailborden.info), clicking on the Electronic Resources button, and then clicking on the “Internet Reference Desk” link. Please go to this site now. Librarians chose the web sites on this page. They are included because they were deemed current, relevant, and trustworthy. Scroll down to look at all of the categories: reference sources; business and consumer information; education; entertainment and hobbies; geography and travel; government and law; health, science, and math; history and genealogy; religion; the Internet, and information in Spanish. Let’s say you are interested in learning more about allergies. On the right side of the page, there is a category called "Health/Science/Math." That looks like the best category in which to find web sites related to health topics. There is a Health and Medicine link in that category. Click on that link. A link to MedlinePlus, the web site supported by the National Library of Medicine, appears third in the list. Click on that link. The MedlinePlus web site (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/) will appear. Do a search for "allergies" by typing that word into the search box near the top left of the page. A wide array of Internet resources will appear, including general overviews, drug information, and news articles. Search directories are good to use when you would like an idea of the categories of information that appear on the Web. II. Yahoo! Another type of web site that helps you find web pages containing the information you want or need is called a search engine. We’ll look at two of the most popular search engines today: Yahoo!, and Google. First, let’s look at the Yahoo! web site, www.yahoo.com. There is a search box near the top of the screen: This is what you will want to type in when you want Yahoo! to do a search for you. If you type what you are looking for in the address bar, the long white box where the web address for Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/) appears: your search will not work. That is where you should type to go to another web address. Type your web search, however, in the search box further down on the screen. Let’s say you are interested in learning about the Amazon River. Try typing the word Amazon (it doesn’t need to be capitalized) in the Yahoo! search box. After typing in your search term, either press the “Return” key on your keyboard, or click on the gray “Search” button that appears to the right of the search box. This lets Yahoo! know you are ready for it to begin a search. After you’ve done this, a screen like this will appear: The first group of links, the one with the red Y!, are results from Yahoo!’s news site. Since we’re not looking for current news, we can ignore those. The links on the right side of the screen, under “Sponsor Results” are ads. Companies pay for links like these to appear when you do an Internet search. They hope you’ll visit their web pages, and buy something from them. Since they aren’t official search results, we’ll ignore them today. What we’ll want to look at most closely are the links that have numbers next to them. These are the search results, and by looking at the descriptions under each result, we can decide if we have found what we are seeking, or if we need to try a different search. Hm. The search results are all about Amazon.com, the online bookstore, not the Amazon River! We’ll need to refine our search. If your search brings up many, many results, and/or brings up the wrong kind of results, the best thing to do is to try the search again, adding one or more words to it. Click in the Yahoo! search box (which is still there, above the results from your previous search), and add the word River to it. When you use more than one word in a search, you will want to put a space between each word. Your search box should look like this before you press the “Enter” key or click on the “Search” button: Amazon River. Search engines automatically assume you want to find all of the words you type in the search box, so there’s no need to put an “and” between the search terms. Note that the search terms will not necessarily appear right next to each other, or in the same order that you typed them in. We’ll discuss how to make this happen later in the class. Your search results should look something like this: There may be links that have black dots in front of them, and are shaded in blue. These are advertisements, like the “Sponsor Results” along the right side of the screen. Let’s look, then, at the numbered links. These are the real search results. Internet search engines use powerful computers to look for web sites. They search for keywords, or important words that appear in web pages, and then use a complicated formula to determine what web pages should appear when you search for one or more of those keywords. Since search engines’ computers update their searches often, search results may also vary from day to day. Web pages may be changed, be unavailable for a while because of computer and/or network problems, or even disappear entirely. This being the case, your search results may be different than what appears in your class handout. If pop-up ads (those little boxes that can clutter up your screen) appear, click on the small “X” in the top right corner of each one to close them. III. Google Web Searches Google (www.google.com/) is the other search engine we’ll learn how to use today. Please go to this site now. The Google web site’s main focus is its search engine, so the page has a clean look. (Yahoo! has a new site that puts its search engine front and center, too: http://search.yahoo.com/) Another nice thing about Google is that it doesn’t generate pop-up ads. Say we’re interested in finding out about what is on display at the Art Institute in Chicago. Let’s try this search: Art Institute of Chicago. Type these words into the search box in the middle of the screen, and either hit the “Enter” key on your keyboard, or click on the “Google Search” button underneath the search box with your mouse. (The “I’m Feeling Lucky” button next to the “Google Search” button takes you directly to the first web page in the search results. Usually, though, you’ll want to look at the list of results, instead of just one web site.) Your screen will look something like this: The “Local results for art institute of near Chicago, IL” category of links displays addresses and phone numbers Google thinks we might want. Since we’re interested in what is on display in the museum, though, we’ll skip past those. Above the search results, Google tells us how many results came up. It also underlines the search terms it looked for. Because “of” is such a common term, it left that word out of the search. If any ads appear in Google, they’ll be highlighted in blue on the top of the web page, or be listed under “Sponsored Links” on the right side of the page. When searching for more than one word, type in the most important search term first. Google places more importance on the search term(s) that are typed in first. IV. Phrase Searching The fewer results you have, the more likely it is that the web page you are seeking will come up at or near the top of the list. One way to lower the number of search results when searching for a phrase (two or more words you would like to appear next to each other) is to enclose your search terms in quotation marks, or “quotes.” To insert a quotation mark, hold down one of the “Shift” keys on your keyboard, and then press the key to the left of the “Enter” key. This search tip also works in Yahoo! Searching for a phrase in quotes brings up only the web pages in which your search terms appear exactly as you typed them in the search box. This makes it more likely that your search results will match what you expect to find. Try typing in “Art Institute of Chicago” as a search in the Google search box that appears above the search results. The results for this search will look something like this: From the descriptions of the search results, “The Art Institute of Chicago Museum” is the link we’ll want to click on to find out what is on display at the Art Institute. V. Evaluating Web Pages Anyone with a computer, an Internet connection, and some know-how can put a web page up on the Internet. Because of this, not everything on the Internet is trustworthy. Here are some criteria you can use to decide if a web page is worth your time: Authority: Who designed the web page? Does he or she (or the business/organization responsible for the web page) have a physical address, phone number, and email address listed? If scholarly or scientific information is listed, is the information’s source listed on the page? Accuracy: Do you notice any blatant factual or spelling errors, or does the information seem credible? Objectivity: Are facts presented fairly, or does the page only present one side of an issue? Is the intent of the page clearly stated? Currency: Does the web page list when it was last updated? Are the links current? Content: Is the page designed for easy navigation, or is it overrun with ads? Does it include the information you want or need? The Art Institute of Chicago Museum web site lists a physical address, phone number, and email address. It appears to offer trustworthy information about the museum’s collections and other offerings. It also lists when it was last updated. If we are looking for credible information about this institution, the web site appears to be a good source. VI. Other Google Searches Please return to the Google start page (www.google.com/) now. The Web search is the default Google search. Google also offers other types of searches: Images: photos and drawings Groups: discussion groups News: Google’s news page Froogle: Google’s shopping page Local: businesses and services in a community To conduct one of these searches, first clear out the search box using the “Backspace” or “Delete” keys on your keyboard. Then, click on the type of search you would like to do. Finally, type your search term(s) in the Google search box. VII. Searching Practice Now, try to find some or all of the following in Google: 1. A recipe for rhubarb pie. 2. The official web site for the rock band The Rolling Stones. 3. A picture of a monarch butterfly. 4. How Oprah Winfrey has been making news lately. 5. A list of all of the pizza places in Elgin. If any of these puzzle you, feel free to ask the class instructor for help! VIII. How to Learn More If you would like to find out more about searching in Google, visit their “Basics of Search” page: http://www.google.com/help/basics.html. Yahoo! also offers a “Search Help” page: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/basics/index.html. The best way to learn about searching the Internet is to do it often. Try searching for things you might otherwise look for in the newspaper, a phone book, or an encyclopedia, and see what appears. The more you search, the easier it becomes to find what you want. The best place to ask about finding something on the Internet in the library is the Information Desk, near the stairs on the second floor. The library also offers a variety of books about searching the Internet.