Instructional Workshops ~ Fall Quarter 2000

Understanding your search options:

Despite the challenges of finding quality information on the Internet, there are a number of search tools that a researcher can use to his or her advantage. The two most common tools are the Internet search engine and the Internet guide. Understanding how each works is the key to finding what you need on the web.

Search engines -- How do they work?

An Internet search engine collects information fairly indiscriminately through the use of programs known as crawlers, spiders, or robots. Crawlers fan out across the Internet and collect copies of web pages from various host servers. These files are then assembled into a database. When a query is posed by the researcher, the search engine looks for likely matches within this database. The search results are then displayed and ordered according to relevancy. Each search engine's "trade secret" is the algorithm it uses to determine relevancy. Different methods of relevancy ranking, in part, explain why different search engines return different results for the same search query.

How to make search engines work for you:

• Read the "help" or "tips" section of each search engine to learn proper Boolean operators, truncation, and nesting. Each search engine is uses slightly different language.
• Make your search query as concise as possible.
• For a more comprehensive search, use several different search engines or try a meta search engine

What is an Internet guide?

An Internet guide is an index or directory of websites that are classified according to subject categories. Unlike standard search engines, the information contained within an Internet guide is compiled and organized by humans not computer programs. The subject matter covered within a guide can range from the very broad to the very specialized. Yahoo! is an example of a wide-ranging web directory which covers many popular subject areas. Encyclopaedia Britannica's "Internet Guide" is a more exclusive directory, covering subject categories which are more academically oriented. Websites within an Internet guide are often arranged in a heirarchical manner beginning with more general subject categories and advancing to more specific ones. Browsing is the usual mode of operation, though many directories contain a search engine component to help navigate the user through the various levels of subject categories.

Search Engine Showdown
www.notess.com/search/

Search Engine Watch
www.searchenginewatch.com/

Searchengines.com
www.searchengines.com/

SearchIQ
www.zdnet.com/searchiq/