NAVIGATIONAL AIDS
COMMERCIAL SEARCH SITES
(Last Revised 1/18/01)
How do you find what you want ?
What is a Search Engine ?
A Search Engine is a Data Base Program or Application. Search Engines get their cataloged information by use of software to find "NOUNS" associated with documents or WEB pages. Some are local to a given site such as the public files at a Government or Educational facility. By entering "KEY WORDS" (Nouns) you will be provided with URLs to pages containing these nouns. They are no more than FINDING Facilities for your use.
Some commercial ventures use their computers to search some of the Worldwide Internet and Catalog their findings to share with the World. They make their money from advertising displayed on their pages. They commonly try to direct inquires to their paying advertising client's sites first. This is an Internet form of a Scam. Learn to look down their list of URLs and find what you want; i.e. don't necessarily take their first offerings. Be ware, they are free and they do provide a good service. Usually each one has instructions for it's use. Learn how their "SYNTAX" is used; i.e. what punctuation is required in their search fields. Below are links to some of the more popular and current commercial engines. Experiment . . . Try some of these common ones.
In
addition to Keyword searches most sites have a hyper linked index
or table where you can work your way through this hierarchical structure to get to information you desire. This is
"SURFING" the easy way. Experiment with both Keyword
searches and Hierarchical searching to learn their respective pros
and cons. Examples of non-commercial directories or search
engines are given below. Check them out . . .
http://www.voanews.com/ Voice of America Index.
http://www.voa.gov/verity/newsdirectory.cfm Hyper linked VOA Newswire Directory
ENJOY THE REVIEW OF MANY DAILY EDITORIALS.
Can you locate one of these for
today?
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
This is Cornell's Hyperlink site of Supreme Court Cases,
Can you view a Case Syllabus?
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/exhibits.html Can you go both ways from this URL?
(1) Back to the National Archives Home Page or;
(2) On down in the files to locate the Japanese official
Instrument of Surrender.
http://www.census.gov/ The US Census Bureau's Home Page.
Can you use the "State/County profiles" link to find
the 1998 estimate population of Madison County, Alabama?
Reference:
UNDERSTANDING
AND COMPARING WEB SEARCH TOOLS
http://web.hamline.edu/Administration/Libraries/search/comparisons.html
Your Computer's Browser is a real storehouse of URLs. Every time you visit a site it's URL is stored in a history file. You can access this file several ways and use it to link you to previous sites. You can set options to control how long these URLs are kept and also how to display them. Browsers have a "Favorite Sites" file where you can select to store URLs of sites you visit on a frequent basis. Yet another feature of a browser is a file of "Temporary Internet Files". These are used when you page back. Also stored in these files are graphics for sites you visit; like logos. Many parents use these sites to watch where there kids venture to, this only works until the kids learn how to delete these files.
WEB Research Is Fun.
Use the Exercises for Practice.
If you don't use it, you lose it !
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Dean Christensen; February, 2000; This information has been gleaned from many sources on the Internet. It has been compiled and edited by the author for the free use of his students. It is available to all. Remember the Internet is "Shared" resources. Revised January 18, 2001.