Research and Reference Resources

Finding What You Want on the Web

This guide to searching the web was developed as part of a series of classes taught at Madison Public Library and in the Madison schools. Computer classes or one-on-one tutoring sessions are sometimes available at Madison Public Library locations.

Search Engines

What is a Search Engine?

A search engine is a web page that allows you search for words and phrases in the content of other web pages, in order to find topical information that you're interested in.
Search engines are usually distinguished by a white box in which you can type your search statement, along with a button nearby that might say something like "Search" or "Go" or "Submit"
There are many, many search engines-there is no "best" one-it depends on the type of information that you're looking for.
For descriptions of different search engines, go to Nanyang Technological University's Subject Guide to General Search Engines.
Read a comparison of three popular search engines from the UC Berkeley Library.
An example of a search engine: http://www.google.com/

Why Use a Search Engine?

When you're looking for a specific web page, but don't know the address (for example, the City of Madison home page)
When you're looking for information on a topic, similar to how you might search for a book in the library catalog by subject (for example, information on "koala bears").
When you're looking for specific or obscure information.

Search Techniques for Search Engines

Different strategies can be used to limit or expand your search-each search engine has different features that can be used.
Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to limit or expand your search
Use synonyms or alternate terms to expand your search
Use quotes to search for phrases
Add additional terms or concepts to your search to limit results
Use truncation and wildcards to expand your search
Limit by date, language, format, domain, and other factors, to find the most relevant results
Consult the "Help" or "Search Tips" page in the search engine you choose to learn about its features
For descriptions of the different features available in various search engines, see Search Engine Watch.

Examples of Different Search Strategies for Search Engines

Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT)

"pilot schools" OR "flight schools"
puppies OR puppy
Oprah AND "book club"
desserts NOT chocolate
windows NOT microsoft

NOTE - each search engine is different, and will have different default search strategies. In Google, for example, 'Oprah "book club"' will search for 'Oprah AND "book club,"' but in other search engines, 'Oprah "book club"' will search for 'Oprah OR "book club."' When you are trying a new search engine, check out the help page to see what strategy you should use.

Synonyms or Alternative Terms

dogsledding OR "dog sledding" or dogsleds or "dog sleds"
rainforest OR "rain forest"
"television shows" OR "TV shows"

Phrase Searching

"Green Bay Packers"
"Walt Disney World"
"Wisconsin State Journal"

Additional Concepts or Terms

Tigers -- Detroit Tigers -- Siberian Tigers
Cancer -- Lung Cancer -- Skin Cancer

Truncation and Wildcards

Truncation enables you to search for all words that begin with the first letters of your search term.

pupp* (for puppies and puppy)
ital* (for Italy, Italian, Italians, Italia, italics….)

Wildcards enable you to search for a term that has multiple possible spellings (or is commonly misspelled, or you are unsure of the spelling).

gene?logy
Lars?n
Eli?abeth

NOTE - each search engine has different capabilities when it comes to truncation and wildcards. Check the help page to find out if the search engine is capable of truncation or wildcard searches, and to find out which symbols to use.

Subject Directories

What is a Subject Directory?

a subject directory is a collection of web sites that have been arranged, according to subject, by humans.
they are arranged in categories such as Entertainment or Health,
and a searcher can follow links to find collections of Web pages about a narrow or broad topic.
For descriptions of different subject directories, go to the list maintained by the UC Berkeley Library.
An example of a subject directory: dmoz: Open Directory Project

Why Use a Subject Directory?

when you're looking for information that is easily categorized and is hierarchical. (for example, Health> Preventive Medicine> Diet and exercise> Nutrition)
when your topic is general or broad. (for example, dog training, colonial America)
when you're not sure exactly what you're looking for, and just want to surf the net to find things that look interesting to you.

Comparison of Search Engines and Subject Directories

Search Engines	Subject Directories
searched and indexed by a "spider" or "robot"	sites are indexed by people, sometimes experts on a subject
large database	small database
no evaluation or annotation	some evaluation and annotation
ranked according to different formulas using search terms and links to pages	organized according to subject or topic
good for searching for specific or obscure topics and for searching for a URL of a specific organization, group, etc.	good for finding various sources of information about a broad, general topics or narrower topics

Invisible Web / Deep Web / Deep Content

What is the Invisible Web?

the Invisible Web or Deep Web is the term for the Web pages that can't be found by using conventional search engines or subject directories
made up of subject specific search engines or subject directories. (for example, Recipe Source or Internet Movie Database)

Why use the Invisible Web?

when you're looking for very subject specific information
when you don't find what you're looking for by using conventional searches

How do I find the Invisible Web?

Read what the UC Berkeley Library has to say about it.
Complete Planet
Madison Public Library's Reference Page
by searching in a search engine. (for example, search for "recipe database" at Google)

Hybrid Sites

a combination search engine/subject directory
MSN.com
AltaVista

Meta-Search Engines

searches more than one search engine at a time
Metacrawler
Ixquick
Dogpile

Portals

a hybrid site that you can personalize (local weather, stock information, sport news, etc.)
Excite
Yahoo

Evaluation

Authority

URL clues

The 2 or 3 character ending to a Web site main page tells you what type of page it is:
.com US commercial
.org US organization (usually non-profit)
.edu US educational
.gov US government
.us United States
.fr France
A tilde ( ~ ) often indicates that it is a personal Web page: Example: http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~nmedbery(a personal page at an educational institution)
"About Us" page
It is helpful to look for information about the creator of the page when determining its authority. Does the creator have education or experience that would make him or her an "expert" on the subject matter?

Accuracy

Are there any obvious errors? (spelling, grammar, etc.)
Excessive errors are an indication of sloppy, careless work, and might cause the reader to misinterpret or misunderstand the information contained in the page.
Is there a way that you could verify information?
Does the creator cite other resources?
Can you verify the information in reference sources? (encyclopedias, almanacs, directories)

Intention

A .com site usually indicates a commercial enterprise; is the creator trying to sell you something (either a product or an opinion)?
"About Us" page
What is the creator's bias? Frequently, .org sites may represent a specific point of view (for example, gun-control advocates or pro-life viewpoints)

Currency

Are there dates given indicating when the page was last revised?

A date can help you determine if the information is still accurate.

Is the information of a timeless nature, or is it something that should be frequently revised or updated?

Some information should be frequently revised and updated, such as legal and medical information.

Other resources to consult for further information:

Web Sites with Information about Citation of Internet Resources

How to Cite Electronic Sources (Indiana University Libraries; MLA & APA)

Citing Sources
A list of online style guides on the Web, arranged by formats: APA, CBE, Chicago, MLA, Turabian

Citing Electronic Sources
Style for citation of various formats on the Internet-films, legal, maps, photographs, recorded sound, special presentations, text-for MLA and Turabian

Glossary

Bookmark - The address of a Web page which you may want to return to. Netscape lets you maintain a list a "Bookmarks" to make it easy to go back to your favorite Web pages (in Internet Explorer, they are called "Favorites").

Chat room - An electronic space, typically a Web site or a section of an online service, where people can go to communicate online in real time. Chat rooms are often organized around specific interests, such as small business owners, gardening, etc.

Home page - The entry page, or main page, of a Web site. The home page usually contains links to other Web pages. It is a home base for exploring the Web. In case you need to get back to the main page of a Web site, there will usually be an icon somewhere on the page that says "Home."

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) - The language used to write pages for the World Wide Web. This language allows links to other pages to be embedded within the text.

Internet - The largest computer system in the world. All the computers that are connected together into an amazingly huge global network so that they can talk to each other. Often called the Net, the Information Superhighway, or Cyberspace.

Link - A hypertext connection that can take you to another document or another part of the same document. On the World Wide Web, links appear as text or images that are highlighted in another color and/or are underlined. When you move your cursor over a link, it turns from an arrow into a pointing finger.

Netiquette - the etiquette on the Internet.

Surfing - Wandering around the World Wide Web in search of all that interesting stuff out there.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) - A standardized way of naming network resources used for linking pages on the World Wide Web. The unique address for each Web page. The URL for the Madison Public Library Web site is http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org

Web browser - A program that enables you get on the World Wide Web and surf for information. The two most common browsers are Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer.

Web page - A document available on the World Wide Web. It can contain text, graphics, video, sound, and hypertext links to other Web pages.

Web site - A single group of many pages dealing with the same topic and written by the same person or group. A Web site can be compared to a magazine with many articles (each individual Web page could be compared to an article in a magazine).

World Wide Web (WWW) - Frequently used (incorrectly) when referring to the "Internet;" the WWW is only one part of the Internet. A huge collection of documents stored on computers around the world-the universe of hypertext servers which are the servers that allow text, graphics, sound files to be mixed together.

Web sites with more comprehensive glossaries

About.com's Internet for Beginners

Learn the Net's Glossary

Glossary of Internet Terms

Education World's Internet Glossary

Other Resources on the Web

Learn the Net
Over a dozen "how to" lessons, plus interesting tips and tricks for internet users of all levels.

net.TUTOR
net.TUTOR" offers interactive tutorial on basic tools and techniques for effective Internet researching. This project is funded by an Academic Enrichment Grant from the Ohio State University.

University of South Carolina - Beaufort Library's "Bare Bones 101 "
Offers general information as well as specific lessons on individual search engines.

Content Developed by Amanda Bakken, November 2001. Minor Revision February 2010.

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