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Searching Methods

Finding and Recording Information

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For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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Start the engine

Search engines are very large databases of web page files. The files are found electronically by ‘spiders’ which crawl around the Internet seeking relevant files.

There are two types of search engines: Individual and Meta (or clustering) search engines.

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Start the engine

Individual search engines have their own bank of databases. Examples of individual search engines include Google, AltaVista and Hotbot.

Meta search engines do not hold their own data. Instead they search through individual search engines. Examples of meta search engines include Profusion, Metor, and Vivisimo, as well as Ixquick which searches in other languages.

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No two search engines are the same. They may be of a

different size and speed, provide different content and

rank (order) the information they return in a different way.Tip: Try different ones.

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Unlike search engines, subject directories are put together by people; editors choose the sites. This tends to lead to better quality information.

Direct me

However, directories may point the user to a web site which does not exist any more;whereas search engines store file details which are updated regularly.

Subject directories are useful for finding general information but you can often obtain more information using a search engine.

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Remind me

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To search for information in a search engine type in keywords. Be specific – use more than one word.

Find me if you can

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By being specific and using as many keywords as possible:

there will be fewer results to look throughthe results will be more accurate.

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This is how a search engine interprets your keywords:

Keywords Search Engine Interpretation Results

The Lion King The AND Lion AND King 1,090,000

“The Lion King” “As a whole phrase” 238,000

“The Lion King” London

“As a whole phrase” AND London

12,100

“The Lion King” “musical London”

“As a whole phrase” AND “As a whole phrase”

210

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Most search engines automatically insert AND between each word.

There are other operators you can add yourself between words called Boolean operators. These

include:

OR, NOT.

By using AND, OR, NOT you can narrow the search and focus on the exact information you need.

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Find me if you can

Match the numbers to the statements. You’ll have to place all the numbers to complete this exercise!

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Skim the surface

Skim

Skimming is removing the thin layer at the top.

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Scan

The light passes over the document from the top to bottom, scanning the document and taking in the information as it goes down the page.

Within a short time a lot of information has been transferred to the computer.

Scan the document

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When finding information you need to skim and scan through your document to find and take note of the relevant parts.

Fast, effective reading

Skim and scan the information on the next slide:

To skim and scan means reading through the information very quickly and learning to pick out what you need.

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Fast reading

One of my ambitions in life is to go up in a hot air balloon.

I read somewhere that when you are up in the sky you do not hear a sound! No wind, no noise – sheer silence. Just the occasional blast from the balloon.

As for the view … well, what can one say? I imagine floating over miles of green fields and houses with smoke coming out of the chimney. Perhaps I will come across a river with fishermen trying to catch the early morning fish.

The air will be crisp and cold as it is barely sunrise … Oh, to dream. It is only a dream because should I manage to scramble into the basket, which I understand is quite high, I will still have one big problem. I am scared of heights. This white text is here in order to create a pause before the next slide transition. Please do not remove it or delete it.

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How fast can you read? Do you read every word?Let’s see….

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For the next activity you will focus on highlighting the relevant information rather than the speed of your reading. You will gain speed by practice.

Effective reading

Underline the text that you would need to use if you were writing an article about Pancake Day.

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There are two types of search engines: Individual and Meta search engines.

Subject directories are chosen and edited by people rather than machines.

Typing in specific keywords narrows the search and produces the required information.

Boolean operators ensure that only relevant results are found.

When finding information always skim and scan. This means reading through information quickly and picking out relevant parts.

Skimming and scanning saves a lot of time and paper.

Summary

What can I remember?