C7: Web Search Engines and Directories
Objectives
This module provides an overview of tools and techniques for Web searching, including search engines and directories.
Description
This module provides a basic coverage of challenges posed by Web searching, tools for Web searching, and techniques for Web searching. Major topics include:
- Challenges posed by Web searching
- Strength and weaknesses of search tools
- Different types of search tools
- Search engine architectures
- An examination of Google
- An examination of Yahoo! Directory
- An examination of Yahoo! Portal
- Advanced Google features
- Advanced Search
- Page-Specific Search
- Topic-Specific Search
- Logical operators
- Phrase and proximity searching
- Wildcards
- Necessity and rules of evaluating Web pages
Class Notes
PowerPoint Presentations
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Search Basics
[flash] | [interactive flash] | [interactive flash 2] | [Windows Media] | [.ppt] | [.doc] | [.pdf] -
Effective Searching Methods
[flash] | [interactive flash] | [interactive flash 2] | [Windows Media] | [.ppt] | [.doc] | [.pdf] -
Google's Advanced Search Features
[flash] | [interactive flash] | [Windows Media] | [.ppt] | [.doc] | [.pdf] -
(Optional) A Brief Introduction to Google and Yahoo!
[flash] | [interactive flash] | [Windows Media] | [.ppt] | [.doc] | [.pdf]
- Basic Usage of Google
- Choosing Right Search Terms
- Operators: AND, +, OR, NOT, -
- The " Operator: Quoted Phrase Search
- How to Use Google's Advanced Search Page
- How to Use Google's Topic Specific Searches
- Google's Advanced Search Features
- The ~ Operator: Synonym Search
- The .. Operator: Range Search
- The * Operator: Wildcard Search
- Stemming: Search for Variants of Words
- Google Conversions
- Google Help Center - Get Help for Searching
- Using Google to Search Computer Terms for Reference
- Tutorial on Using LEGO Mindstroms NXT for Robot Programming
Practice Exercise
- On-line Timed Exercise
-
Exercise [.doc] | [.pdf]
•Answers [.doc] | [.pdf]
Suggested Readings and Resources:
Online Tutorials
- A Short and Easy Search Engine Tutorial
- Search Engine Tutorials
- Search Engines and Search Tutorials
- Web Search Strategies
- Searching The Internet
- Categories of Search Engines
- Google Web Search Help Center
- Using Netscape Search
- Truncation And Wildcards -- Examples
- Yahoo! Search Help
- Yahoo! Directory Help
- AltaVista Help
- Chapter 13 of the book Modern Information Retrieval, by Ricardo Baeza-Yates and Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, ISBN: 0-201-39829-X, Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 1999.
- Google and Other Search Engines, by Diane Poremsky, ISBN: 0-321-24614-4, Publisher: Peachpit Press, 2004.
