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Search the Web & Evaluate Web Resources
Types of Search Tools
The following table outlines a variety of tools used to search for information on the Web. It's a good idea to become familiar with several different directories, search engines, metasearch engines, and specialized tools because no one search tool indexes the entire Web.
Subject Directories
(also known as "virtual libraries" or "portals")
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Basic Searching
Searching for ALL or ANY Keywords
Most search engines look for ALL the words in a search. For instance, in a search for dog canine puppy , only sites that contain all words will be retrieved. To complete a search with ANY keyword returned, include an OR between words. For example, dog OR canine OR puppy will return sites that contain one, two, or three of the words.
Capitalization
The capitalization of a letter does not matter in most search engines. Whether you search for Napoleon Bonaparte, napoleon bonaparte, or NaPolEON boNaPArte, your results will be the same.
Common Words
If you enter short, common words, such as a, and, the, who, how, and in, a search engine or directory will eliminate those words from your search. If you need to include these words in a search, such as for whom the bell tolls or in the daylight , be sure to put them inside quotation marks for phrase searching - "for whom the bell tolls" or "in the daylight".
Search Engine Features
The table below describes common features available in many Web search tools. Please note, all of these tools are not available in all search engines or directories. Check the help and advanced search tips pages of the search tool you are using to see if these features are available.
+intellectual +property +patents |
Finds Web sites where the term after the + appears in the results. NOTE: Can be used to override the default setting where ANY of the search terms are retrieved. |
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| Finds Web sites with intellectual and property, but not patents. | |||
| Finds Web sites which contain the exact phrase. | |||
| Finds Web sites with mortgage in the title tag. |
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| Searches within the site www.pepsi.com for the keyword cherry | |||
| Finds Web sites with finance, finances, financial, etc. | |||
| Finds Web sites with both terms. |
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Finds Web sites with either term. | ||
| Finds Web sites with montana, but not camping. |
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| Finds Web sites with college OR university, and bookstore. |
Ranking the Results
Search engines use algorithms to sort the results and rank them according to relevancy. Presumably, the most relevant sites appear at the top of the list.
But how does the computer decide which sites are "relevant"? Most search tools do not reveal their ranking formulas--protecting their competitive edge--but they do share some elements of the criteria they use to rank the results.
Some elements considered in ranking the results are
- Number of terms matched
Web pages containing ALL of the search terms will be ranked higher than Web pages with only some of the search terms.
- Proximity of terms to each other
Web pages where the terms appear closer to each other (i.e., in the same section, paragraph, or sentence) will be ranked higher than Web pages with the terms separated.
- Location of terms within the document
Web pages are created using HTML (HyperText Markup Language) which uses a set of tags to indicate how the content of the page should appear. The information in some of those tags is used by some search engines to determine relevancy. For example, some search tools give higher ranking to Web pages where the search terms appear in the title, head, or meta tags of a particular Web page.
- Frequency of terms in the document
More occurrences of the search terms in the Web page give a higher ranking. However, most major search engines recognize "spamming" techniques and discount them in the ranking. Spamming is when the Web page designer loads terms in the page or repeats the same few terms over and over to improve the ranking. Most search engines can detect this and either lower the ranking of the site or ignore it entirely.
- Number of links to the page
The more sites that link to a given page, the higher that page appears in the rankings. This technique is how the search engine Google ranks the results.
Evaluating Web Resources
The World Wide Web's accessibility and ease of use has led to an exponential increase in the amount of information available on the Internet. As a research tool, however, the Web lacks the quality assurance that editors provide with print publications or that librarians provide when collecting materials for their library. Therefore, given that some Web sites are out-of date, biased, or inaccurate, it is crucial that people doing research in this medium learn how to critically evaluate the material they find.
The following checklist, divided into five separate criteria for evaluation, presents questions that should be asked to determine if a Web resource is of high quality or not. Go through each of the criterion and answer the questions. The greater number of questions answered "yes," the more likely that the source is of high quality.
Criterion #1: Authority
- Is it clear who is sponsoring the creation and maintenance of the page?
- Is there information available describing the purpose of the sponsoring organization?
- Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor? For instance, is a phone number or address available to contact for more information?
- Is it clear who developed and wrote the material? Are his/her qualifications for writing on this topic clearly stated? Is there contact information for the author of the material?
Criterion #2: Accuracy
- Are the sources for factual information given so they can be verified?
- Is it clear who has the responsibility for the accuracy of the information presented?
- If statistical data is presented in graphs or charts, are they labeled clearly?
- Are there errors you can substantiate in the data presented?
Criterion #3: Objectivity
- Is the page and the information included provided as a public service?
- Is it free of advertising?
- If there is advertising on the page, is it clearly separated from the informational content?
- Are there any other signs of bias?
Criterion #4: Currency
- Are there dates on the page to indicate the following:
- Are there any other indications that the material is updated frequently to ensure currency of the data?
- If the information is published in print in different editions, is it clear what edition the page is from?
- Are the links on the page up-to-date?
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a. When the page was written?
b. When the page was first placed on line?
c. When the page was last revised or edited?
Criterion #5: Coverage
- Is there an indication that the page has been completed and is not still under construction?
- If there is a print equivalent to the Web page, is there clear indication of whether the entire work or only a portion of it is available on the Web?
- If the material is from a work that is out of copyright (as is often the case with a dictionary or thesaurus), has there been an effort to update the material to make it more current?
- Is there any other evidence of omissions?
- Does it cover the subject adequately?
The above checklist was based on the following article:
Alexander, J. & Tate, M. (1996). Teaching Critical Evaluation Skills for World Wide Web Resources. Computers in Libraries, 16(10), 49-55. Retrieved on March 26, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.
Using the Web for Research:
What's good on the Web?
Some types of Web sites can be particularly useful for academic, scholarly, or professional research. They are:
- Company Web sites
Information on products, services, staff, and the general organizational structure of the company.
- Government Web sites
Information on almost anything! U.S. government produces tremendous amounts of information in a variety of areas.
- Organization Web sites
Information on the issues an organization advocates and the general organizational structure of the organization.
- Statistical Web sites
Statistical information and data sets from government and academic pages.
Visit the links above to learn more about what kinds of information you can find from these Web resources.