Stop Searching and Start FINDING: Strategies for Effective Web Research

1. Stop Searching and Start FINDING: Strategies for Effective Web Research

2. Our goals today ... Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users: Typing search terms in the wrong box. Using the wrong tool at the wrong time. Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.) Learn some advanced Google searching techniques. DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!

3. The Biggest Mistake Typing search terms in the wrong box

4. Top 15 search terms of 2008 Sex Hotmail / hotmail.com / www.hotmail.com Yahoo / yahoo.com / www.yahoo.com Porn / porno / pornography Youtube MP3 Brittany Spears Ebay / ebay.com / www.ebay.com AOL / aol.com / www.aol.com Games Facebook login Poker Nude / nudes Music Craigslist

5. wordtracker.com Did you notice that my list of top search terms is a few years old? A �live� list of today�s top search terms can be found at wordtracker.com More people are typing addresses as search terms than even before.

6. The Second Biggest Mistake Using the wrong tool at the wrong time

7. What would happen if you tried to look up the definition of the word �pestilence� in the telephone book?

8. YAHOO ISN�T A SEARCH ENGINE! ... it is a directory.

9. Directories Usually human-compiled guides to the web, where sites are organized by category Major directories: MSN Yahoo Netscape ODP

10. What directories are good for ... �What is the Web page address for some company, organization, or entity?� (or �who makes product X?�) �Where can I find a list of Web pages that focus on a particular, �universal� topic?� In other words, directories are GREAT for �telephone book� searches.

11. What directories AREN�T good for ... Directories are horrible for �encyclopedia� or �dictionary� searches. The only exception is if the topic is so universal that the directories have no choice but to link to a page or two that discuss that topic (and even then the selection will be slim.)

12. Search Engines have three parts: A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") that goes to every page or representative pages on every Web site that wants to be searchable and reads it, using hypertext links on each page to discover and read a site's other pages.

13. Search Engines have three parts: A program that creates a huge index (sometimes called a "catalog") from the pages that have been read.

14. Search Engines have three parts: A program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index, and returns results to you.

15. Directories v Search Engines Directories are human-compiled and have a small number of pages in their databases (usually in the low millions) Search engines are machine-compiled and have a HUGE number of pages in their databases (usually in the hundreds of millions or even the billions)

16. The Second Biggest Mistake -- Restated Using a directory as if it was a search engine ... and then not understanding why you can�t find anything!

17. Top search sites � January 2006 MSN Yahoo Google AOL Ask Jeeves LookSmart Infospace Overture Netscape AltaVista

18. Which ones are directories? MSN Yahoo Google AOL Ask Jeeves LookSmart Infospace Overture Netscape ODP AltaVista

19. Secondary results Most directories use a search engine as a backup (Yahoo and Netscape use Google, almost everyone else uses Inktomi) Why add the extra step?

20. How the sites stack up Most directories (like MSN and AOL) link to a few million pages. Most search engines (like AltaVista and Google) link to more than 12 billion pages.

21. Why do people predominantly use directories when search engines have more stuff? Because no one ever takes the time to teach us how to use a search engine! 

22. The Third Biggest Mistake Not knowing how to use directories or search engines to actually FIND stuff

23. searchenginewatch.com A LOT of what you are about to see comes straight from Danny Sullivan�s �Search Engine Watch� Web site.

24. Search engine rule #1 Be specific ... because if you aren�t specific, you�ll end up with a bunch of garbage!

25. Search engine rule #2 Use quotes to search for phrases. �patrick crispen�

26. Use quotes for phrases This works on every search engine and directory but Direct Hit, LookSmart, and MSN Search. BUT, quotes do work for LookSmart's Inktomi results. At MSN Search, it�s unpredictable about when this works.

27. Search engine rule #3 Use the + sign to require. crispen +pepperdine

28. Search engine rule #4 Use the - sign to exclude. crispen -roadmap

29. Use the - sign to exclude This works on every search engine and directory but LookSmart But, the - sign does work for LookSmart's Inktomi results. Also, the - sign will not work for preprogrammed results to popular queries at MSN Search.

30. Synonyms Other terms that relate to topic ~ use before word for Google Look at snippit for synonyms

31. Wildcard * Root of word Used between words Three * mice

32. OR Must be capitalized �renewable energy� OR �sustainable energy�

33. Search engine rule #5 Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1). +�patrick crispen� �roadmap +pepperdine

34. The seven rules Be specific ... because if you aren�t specific, you�ll end up with a bunch of garbage! Use quotes to search for phrases. Use the + sign to require. Use the - sign to exclude. Use OR Use synonyms Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1).

35. Keywords and Synonyms Must, Might, Mustn�t Chart Keyword Web site

36. Advanced Google Searching Made Easy Also see snoople 5928

37. Google Advanced Search

38. Title searches at Google Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their title. Great way to �cast a narrow net.�

39. Title searches at Google allintitle:terms intitle:terms allintitle:�Moon Landing�

40. Site searches at Google Lets you limit your search to only pages within a specific site or domain, or to exclude pages from a specific site or domain. You�d use this in combination with another search term.

41. Site searches at Google site:domainname site:nasa.gov

42. URL searches at Google Lets you search for pages that have a particular word or phrase in their URL. Why anyone would want to do this is beyond me.

43. URL searches at Google allinurl:url inurl:url allinurl:apollo

44. A sample Google search +allinurl:apollo +moon ��john young� +site:nasa.gov Of course, this would all be on one line

45. Related searches at Google Lets you search for pages that are similar to another page. For example, you can do a related search to find pages similar to my netsquirrel.com page

46. Related searches at Google related:url related:netsquirrel.com

47. searchenginewatch.com FREE search tutorials! �Search Engine Math� �Power Searching for Anyone�

48. Ten Searching Tips 1.Don't waste time looking for things you are not likely to find on the internet. 2.Search the on-line versions of familiar print resources (books, magazines, newspapers etc.). 3.Use unique terms that will distinguish the document(s) you want from all others. 4.Use the +, - and " " operators to narrow your search. 5.Consider spelling variations when choosing search terms. 6.Search the best sites in depth. 7.If at first you don't succeed, refine your search strategy. 8.Use synonyms (and other word forms) to focus your query more precisely. 9.Focus on format. 10.Search the Invisible Web. http://21cif.imsa.edu/resources/tips/locate_tips

49. Our goals today ... Discover the biggest mistakes made by most Internet users: Typing search terms in the wrong box. Using the wrong tool at the wrong time. Talk about the differences between directories and search engines (and when to use each.) Learn some advanced Google searching techniques. DO ALL OF THIS IN ENGLISH!

50. Stop Searching and Start FINDING: Strategies for Effective Web Research