A Search Engine Data data everywhere but not
A Search Engine Data, data everywhere but not a thought to think (Theodore Rozak)
How does work? 3. The search results are returned to the user in a fraction of a second. 1. The web server sends the query to the index servers. The content inside the index servers is similar to the index in the back of a book--it tells which pages contain the words that match any particular query term. 2. The query travels to the doc servers, which actually retrieve the stored documents. Snippets are generated to describe each search result. http: //www. googleguide. com/p 2 rint_understand_results. html
n Is not case sensitive n Ignores most punctuation in your search terms n n A term with an apostrophe (single quotes) doesn't match the term without an apostrophe eg: we’re / were Searches for variations on any hyphenated terms eg: e-mail finds e-mail and email n n Considers the proximity of your search terms in a page Gives higher priority to pages that have the terms in the same order as in your query 3
n n Google simply matches strings of characters together It finds pages that contain words that are similar to some or all of your search terms, e. g. , "child, " "children, " or "children's" Google calls this automatic stemming Stemming is a technique to search on the root of a word that can have multiple endings 4
n n Use words likely to appear on the pages you want [passport apply Australia] not [where do I apply for a passport in Australia] use Be brief - for best results, use a few precise words use [ quit gambling program ] not [ program on quitting a gambling addiction ] n Be specific: Use more query terms to narrow your results n You don't have to correct your spelling (usually!) 5
n n n To search for pages that contain the exact term use a plus sign (+) eg: +child Don’t want a particular word? – use a minus sign (-) eg: web –internet Want similar terms found? – use the operator (OR) (must be in upper case) eg: dog OR puppy n Stop words are ignored e. g. , the, on, where, how n 32 -word limit applies to search terms and operators 6
n Google’s n n n feature Syntax: ~word n Example: ~sheep returns sites with the terms livestock and also lamb. Google’s n synonym related: operator Syntax: related: www. altvetmed. com n Doesn’t find linked pages; finds similar pages Phrase searching n Use quotation marks (“ ” ) eg: “the man in the moon” 7
n Google ignores: n n n Apostrophes Accent marks in Roman-alphabet foreign languages Google also ignores: n hyphens BUT always use the hyphen if it might be hyphenated 8
n I'm Feeling Lucky option: § Doesn't consider sponsored links on the first results page, which are paid advertisements, when deciding where to take you § The I'm Feeling Lucky option will send you to what Google considers the most relevant result that is not a paid advertisement 9
Useful Search Strategy? n Know what you’re looking for – companies, information, opinions? n Write down your purpose in one sentence n Brainstorm keywords and topics - be aware of synonyms Use at least 5 keywords, often more is better n Put the most important words first n n “phrase searching” is an excellent strategy n Refine your search online n Evaluate offline 10
You get what you ask for! 11
Flaws? . . . a few of n Link ranking is not infallible n Favours older pages n Surface Web is still most of the content n Results are primarily in a single list n ‘s : Can return pages that do not contain all of your terms but occur in other pages that link to the page or in other pages on the same site 12
Help for searching Google Help Centre http: //www. google. com. au/help/features. html Google Cheat Sheet http: //www. google. com. au/help/cheatsheet. html 13
Reference your Sources! Referencing § Always state where you found the information! § Write down all the details § Author/s, year, title, date viewed, web address 14
BOTTOM LINE: Is the web page as good as or better than what you can find in journal articles or other published literature 15
Thank you for your time…. And, there is much more on the web than Google! Find out more in the session: Beyond Google 16
- Slides: 16