Using Search Engines

by Randall S. Davis


"I'm astounded at the the number of windows search engines open up to finding new material on the Web"

- ESL Teacher
Japan

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Purpose of Lesson:
I. What is a Search Engine?

"I've used yahoo.com to search the Internet. Isn't that enough?"

Well, if you keep in mind that there are over 5 billion documents that make up the World Wide Web, no one single tool will help you find what you are looking for in your life time. The Internet is so deep, and most people are using the Internet as if they were digging a giant hole with a toothpick. By learning about different searching tools, people can quickly and effectively search the Internet, and find the most reliable, credible, and timely information out there.

Search engines (e.g., altavista.com, google.com) are databases of documents, sound files, graphics, etc., that allow you to find references to topics you are interested in by submitting keywords. Search directories (e.g., yahoo.com) usually allow users to find information through lists of categories. Meta-search engines (dogpile.com) are not databases; rather, they search the databases of the most popular search engines and then send a list of results of each back to you.

There are also a number of specialized search tools for finding detailed information like biographies, quotations, facts and figures, and images, word definitions. Rather than using general search engines that can a little of everything, these search tools are often created by experts in their fields, and the information can be more credible, providing reference to original sources.

II. Why can't I find what I am looking for?
Even after searching, you might become frustrated because you can't seem to find what you are looking for. There could be several reasons for this. First, be sure the terms "+" or "-" in your search (boolean operators) as discussed below. Many search engines will use the boolean operator, "or", as the automatic default. More information on this is discussed below.

Second, your search topic is very broad (like "cars"). Narrow your search and use as specific terms as possible.

Next, the page you looking for might no longer exist or the page has been moved. If you ever get a "File Not Found" message, try deleting the last part of the URL until you get to the main part of the domain that still exists. For example, if the URL, www.eslnetworld.com/topic.html, does not work, remove "topic.html" to see the main domain.

III. How do you Use Search Engines?

Different search engines rank and categorize sites differently. Some have people (human editors) who evaluate each site; others use computer robots or "spiders" to do this job. Because there millions of pages record in search engine databases, some of the results may not be exactly related to what you are looking for and may be used out of context.

With other search engines, if a document contains all words in a specific search, it ranks higher than a page containing only one or two of the words. Likewise, searches with specific words will rank higher than those with general terms ("Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab" verses "listening")

Finally, some search engines like Google will rank pages according to popularity, that is, how many other websites link to you.

Here are several steps you might follow when researching a topic. For this example, you want to find out which university Michael Jordan attended.

1. Think of key words related to your topic

What words could you use in this search? Of course, you could use the phrase, "Michael Jordan," but you could look up other related words like basketball, university, college, etc.

2. Select your search tool

Different search engines have different features. There are also some specialized searching tools. The more you learn and experiment with them, the better you will become in finding the information you are looking for.

3. Use Boolean logic terms to narrow search

Most database indexing and searching are based on the principals of Boolean logic, named after the British mathematician George Boole. The three basic terms used are: AND, NOT, and OR. If you understand how to use these terms effectively when searching, you will have better results. Here is basically how they work:

What you are Looking for
Diagram
Keywords you Would Use
You want to find information about culture. Results can contain any of these words.
culture
 culture customs
culture OR customs
You want to research the relationship between diet and health. Results must contain all of these words. Results will include references with only "diet" or only "health."
Diet and Health
 diet AND health
diet +health
You want information on cars, but you don't want anything on trucks. Results will include only information on only cars, but not trucks.
Cars and Trucks
 cars NOT trucks
cars -trucks

If you are looking for a particular phrase, names of people, or titles of songs or books, enclose them in quotation marks like "Silent Night" in this example.

Here are only a few of the more popular ones:

Search Engines:

Search Directories: Meta-Search Engines: Special Searching Tools:

Dictionaries -

III. Practice Activities

Here are several activities to get you started.

1. Classroom Treasure Hunt:

Try to find the answer to this question by using one of the search engines. When you find the information, write down: (1) the name of the site, (2) the URL, (3) the answer to the question.

2. Click HERE to visit other selected links for your site evaluations.

Practice Quiz Questions

Vocabulary words from this Unit


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References

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Copyright © 1998 by Randall S. Davis, All rights reserved.