SEARCHING THE INTERNET

The Internet is a huge library where the information on a certain topic is distributed among a number of computers rather than located on a single computer. The difficulties in maintaining a distributed library system are the organization of the location of resources and the provision of methods for researchers to access the information. The fact that the internet is expanding rapidly makes the organization of resource locations difficult.

Internet information may be accessed using a number of different services such as Gopher, FTP and the World Wide Web. Not all Internet information can be accessed by a single service. To perform searches, it is important that you be able to use language that is understood by the search software (often called a search engine) used by the service.

Search Syntax

Depending on the type of interface that you are using for your search, you will write your search in a particular syntax. Some search software will allow you to use natural language word strings while others require keyword search terms joined by Boolean operators.

Boolean Operators

Boolean operators guide a search engine's method of retrieving information. Different search engines will recognize different sets of Boolean operators in your search query. The search query is interpreted from left to right, but parentheses can be used to enforce a particular order on the query. Sometimes searches are case-sensitive. To avoid problems, it is advisable to read the help documentation before writing a search query when using a new search system. The most frequently recognized Boolean operators are AND, OR, NOT, and *.

AND: When the Boolean operator AND joins two terms, the search will look for documents which contain both terms. The best use of AND is to combine dissimilar terms. chemistry AND education will find articles that contain both the word chemistry and the word education. If your search query consists of two words, the AND is typically assumed. Thus, the query organic chemistry would be dealt with as if it were organic AND chemistry.

OR: When the Boolean operator OR joins two terms, the query will retrieve documents that contain either term. This operator is used to combine synonyms (canine OR dog) or related concepts.

NOT: The Boolean operator NOT excludes the word that follows it. This operator is helpful in eliminating a subset of documents from the search. Canine NOT dog will exclude all documents in which the term dog is found.

*: The Boolean operator * (right-hand truncation) is used to retrieve a set of documents containing terms that have a common root but different suffixes. For example, the query chem* will produce results such as chemistry, chemical, chemist, etc. Use of this operator will usually retrieve a large number of documents.

Categories of Search Resources

Search Engines
Preferred Engines/Edited Search Engines
Hierarchical Indexes

Search Engines

Index complete Web pages non-selectively without filtering the information before adding it to the database. The indexed material is not reviewed for quality. Search engines give the researcher the largest possible selection of raw material.

Preferred Engines/Edited Search Engines

Add material to the database selectively and review sites based on their content. Edited search engines filter materials before you see them. They may judge sites by the quality of the material presented, and the amount of material on the site. These search engines often exclude sites that contain objectional material.

Hierarchical Indexes

List subjects similarly to the traditional card catalog. The researcher can browse subject listings instead of searching for specific keywords.

Check out these resources:

Beyond Surfing: Tools and Techniques for Searching the Web.

Internet Search Strategy

Why We Need to Evaluate What We Find On the Internet

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