Website: How Best to Use Web Search Engines

The Internet is an invaluable resource that provides access to external sources of information and services for classroom work and research. It is a global network of computers, hence the name “Web” and the “www” (World Wide Web).

Introduction

The local network of computers is called the intranet. When the network spans an area over 5km, it is known as a wide area network, while below 5km it is known as a local area network.

In many cases, computers are made to communicate locally for local information through the intranet rather than through the internet to reduce the consumption of bandwidth and information exchange towards local needs.

Communication through the Internet reduces the cross-border barrier to information exchange. It is a very useful tool for research because it is free for all for information loading and retrieval.

Also, unlike printed scholarly journals and books, web materials may or may not be refereed or reviewed; therefore, getting quality web materials could be very taxing, like looking for a needle in a bag of sand.

Information obtained from the web for academic activities needs to be assessed and examined for Genuineness as well as for the scope of the information. Some of the things to consider are a point of view, evidence of biases, personal opinion, research report, refereed or edited.

The source of the information, i.e. author with addresses of the author(s) and webmaster or publisher, date of first upload and updates and research-oriented with cited works

There are two categories of web-based on the type of information available. These are those classified as web pages created for the purpose for which the information serves and by the mode of access.

How to Formulate Queries

There are three steps to a computer database search:

Identify your concepts

When conducting any database search, you need to break down your topic into its component concepts. For example, if you want to find information on the budget negotiations between President Obasanjo and the PDP, these are your concepts: OBASANJO, PDP, BUDGET.

List keywords for each concept.

Once you have identified your concepts, you need to list keywords that describe each concept. Some concepts may have only one keyword, while others may have many. For example, the OBASANJO PDP HOUSE SPEAKER BUDGET BUDGET BATTLE BUDGET IMPASSE

Depending on the focus of your search, there may be other keywords you would wish to use.

Specify the logical relationships among your keywords

Once you know the keywords you want to search, you need to establish the logical relationships among them. The formal name for this is Boolean logic. Boolean logic allows you to specify the relationships among search terms by using any of three logical operators: AND, OR, NOT.

Search Statement

Result of search

World War I and files containing both these terms

Nigerian Civil War

Files containing at least one of these terms

World War I Nigerian Civil War

World War I, NOT Nigerian Civil War

Files containing the term World War I but not also the term Nigerian Civil War

Search engine

Some search engines offer Boolean searching without mentioning the logical operators by name. For example, you might be asked to list your search terms and choose all of these terms to be searched. This denotes AND logic.

Specifying any of these terms denotes ORlogic. Most search engines use a type of implied Boolean logic, in which symbols or spaces are used to denote logical relationships. For example,+bears +hibernation denotes AND logic.

Rumination 1

Certain search engines allow you to use a proximity operator. This type of AND logic specifies the distance between words in a source file. For example, AltaVista uses the NEAR operator.

Consider this search: Obasanjo NEAR budget. In AltaVista, the two terms must be within 10 words of each other in the source file. Use of this option can help you gain relevance in your search results.

Most Web search engines cannot handle a single search statement that includes all the terms listed in Step 2 above. You may need to repeat your search a few times using terms in different combinations until you get satisfactory results.

Rumination 2

For example, you may start with OBASANJO, PDP, and BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS and connect these terms with AND logic.

Take a look at your results. If you are not finding what you want, repeat the search with alternative keywords for the budget concept. Your initial results may give you ideas about which new terms to try. For more information on formulating searches, see Boolean Searching on the Internet.

Tips on Conducting Searches

Tip 1

1. Read the directions at each search site. The technique for formulating a search depends on the search engine you are using. There is a wide variety of options available among the different search engines.
2. If you have a multi-term search, be sure to determine which type of Boolean logic you should use. For example, a search about the relationship between latitude and temperature would be formulated as +latitude +temperature on many web search engines for AND logic to apply.

Tip 2

1. Include synonyms or alternate spellings in your search statements and connect these terms with OR logic.
2. Check your spelling.
3. Take advantage of capitalisation if the search engine is case-sensitive.
4. If your results are not satisfactory, repeat the search using alternative terms.
5. Try different sources to diversify your results. Sources can include Usenet newsgroups, Internet FAQs, reviewed pages subject directories, and more.

Tip 3

1. Experiment with different search engines. No two search engines work from the same index.
2. Try search engines that allow you to search multiple search engines simultaneously. Be aware that you will lose access to advanced query options since not all engines offer them.
3. If you have too many results, or results that are not relevant:

Field search

• Add concept words. Some search engines allow you to search again within your existing results. Try this option at Hotbot or Lycos.
• Use vocabulary that is specific to your topic; avoid words with large concepts unless you intend to conduct field research.
• Link appropriate terms with the Boolean AND(+)so that each term is required to appear in the record.
• Use term proximity operators if they are available to locate documents in which your terms are closest together. Lycos offers several term proximity options.
• If one of your search terms is a phrase, be sure to enclose it within quotations, i.e., “global warming.”
• Use the Boolean NOT to keep out records containing terms you don’t want.
• If you have too few results: Drop off the least important concept(s) to broaden your subject.
• Use more general vocabulary.
• Add alternate terms or spellings for individuals and connect with the Boolean OR.

Try the option available on some engines to find similar or related documents to one or more of your relevant hits. Google and ProFusion are among the engines that offer this type of feature. You can read more similar posts on our research page of the site.