How to Search the World Wide Web

Often we find searching for the information that we need on the internet difficult. It is especially a problem when we face the huge amount and variable quality of information available. However, there are strategies we can use to make this job easier. We can use the right search engine to suit the particular search, we can develop skills to use search engines intelligently, we can learn to make sensible choices about which site to visit and finally we can evaluate the usefulness of the site once we examine it.

Choosing the right search engine

There are many search engines and different types of search engines. You can choose different ones for different purposes, and different kinds to suit your way of thinking.
First, we ask some questions about what we are looking for.
Do we want to browse a subject area or look for something particular; to find for a website, a journal article, a picture, an academic article, a book; a specific piece of information, or general information? Do we want information from everywhere or just Australia?

Browsing

If we want to browse then a directory or category search engine is a good start. Search Engines like this are Galaxy or Google Directory . More Category Search Engines engines are available.
If we have something specific in mind, but are not sure where to start, general search engines the most familiar kind, are where to start. Google is one of the best in this group. Google has the advantage of searching ordinary html files, PDF files, Usenet groups, images, and has a very good algorithm for finding all kinds of information. Other general searches are Teoma ; Wisenut or Yahoo . Some of special note kartoo les cartes de recherche which arranges results in a visual format; Zerx which allows you to find related sites
A more complete listing is available at General Search Engines

Specialised

If the information we seek is very specific, and we know the area a specialised search will be the place to go. These range from search engines that search for science to finance Money Web to journals Find Articles or trivia Cool Quiz
More Specialist Search Engines are available, like Business Searches

Australian

If we are looking for specifically Australian information, there are Australian search engines. Webwombat or Ozsearch
Google now defaults to a search screen that enables us to specify Australian searches. Altavista and Yahoo have Australian versions. More Australian Searches can be found here and Western Australian Searches here. You can even search Library Catalogues

Metasearches

If we want a large amount of results quickly, we can use metasearches, these are search engines that search a number of engines at once, either returning results in clusters from each or opening multiple windows. The Australian Job Meta Search or the Megaspider
More of these at Metasearches

Invisible or Deep Web

Regular search engines only a small percentage of the web. Even Google only accesses between 10-15% of the web. In 2001 the "deep" web was 400-550 times the size of the "normal" web; 7,500 terabytes compared to 19 terabytes in size; had 550 billion documents compared 1 billion; had 200, 000 sites; 50% more traffic, had 1000-2000 better quality and best of all was 95% free. The deep web comprises mostly documents in databases or other dynamically generated sites. Examples of such search engines are Incywincy ; or a huge collection at Gary Price's Direct Search An Australian direct search is Australian Digital Theses Program There are more such resources here Invisible Web Search Engines and Australian Invisible Web Search Engines

Searching Intelligently

Decide on what we are looking for and select appropriate keywords

Just as with other searches, we need to know what we are looking for. If browsing, decide on appropriate area; if typing in keywords make them specific eg. koala rather than animal, Arthur Boyd rather than just Boyd or painter. We might need to try different variations or a word eg think, thinking, thought. Don't use very ordinary words on their own like Australia or web, nor is there any need to use the, an, a, it, or other common words like those.

Check out the instructions or help file.

Every search engine uses different ways to enter the information. For example, Google's help tells us to use a keyword entry, for it automatically searches for documents containing all the words. So, it is clear that the more keywords, the more specific our answer. It is not case sensitive, that is it doesn't mind about capitals or lower case. However, it doesn't have wildcards or stemming. We need to search for the word we need. If we want the exact words in the exact order, we use inverted commas. So search for "Tom Brown". Other search engines use and or +. Read and follow the instructions for your chosen search engine.

Use advanced search or special sections or facilities

Many search engines have an option for a more advanced search, which allows us to specify particular criteria, like geographical area , time, or pages that are linked. For example Google Advanced
and Hotbot Advanced have advanced search features. Google also has searches for images Google Images or news at Google News Turbo 10 a deep web searcher which allows you to choose which deep web search engines to use Turbo10 Edit Collections

Read the brief summaries on search results pages before opening the link
In most search results screens we can see not only the title of the webpage, but usually a summary or collection of keywords from the site. Scan these quickly to see if they are related to your topic or off in a slightly different direct. This will also give us an idea of how we can narrow our results. Eg a search for mouse will give results for computer equipment and rodents. If we are interested in the rodent, we might need to add the word pet, animal or mammal.

Evaluating Websites

Once we have found a website, which looks as if it might provide useful information, we need to stop and assess whether it is worth reading or examining further. One of the most wonderful aspects of the web is the huge amount of varied information available. One of the most terrible aspects of the web is the huge amount of varied information available! Anyone with the minimal technical knowhow, or the money to pay for that can put up a website. Some of these are wonderful, some are very suspect. Some websites are deliberately misleading. See Web and Internet Hoaxes and Misinformation

We need to examine:

Authority

Who wrote the website? Can we find contacts: email, phone number and postal addresses or are the authors anonymous and uncontactable? Do they have qualifications to back up what they are saying? Are they enthusiastic informed amateurs or crackpots? Is there an association connected to the site?

Domain

What can we work out from the internet address (url)? Is is a commercial site .com or government .gov Is it from Australia au or the Italy it? See more about this in Reading a Universal Resource Locator (url) or Internet Web address.

Objectivity

What is the purpose of the site? What is the point of view? Have they made their viewpoint or bias very clear? Do they attempt to be fair?

Currency

How old is the site? When was it last updated? Are most links still active?

Usability

Do the pages load quickly? Is the site organised logically? Can you find what you want easily? Is there a site map? An index? A search facility?
Relevance Does the site have the kind of information that you need? Is it too easy or too detailed or complicated?

Accuracy

Does the information seem to be correct? Does it fit in what you already know about the topic? Can you check it with books or other websites?
Design Are colour and fonts well chosen? Can you read the text easily? Do the graphics, animation or Java load easily? Do they serve a useful purpose? Is the page only viewable by a specific browser or release of browser or with particular software you have to download? Is navigation easy? Does every image have a text alternative?

To read more about this issue Evaluating Web Sites

Now we have decided that this website has what we want and is worth using.go for it!!!

Rosemary Horton