Search engines are tools that can be used to find information on the Internet. Often, this information is confined to that which is listed on the World Wide Web, but this is not always the case. There are multiple search engines that can be used to find anything from telephone numbers to Usenet news articles.
It is important to note that information on the Internet is dynamic in nature. What you may find in one location today may not be there tomorrow. Also, most of the search engines look for specific words. They are often not intelligent enough to check the relevancy of the words. This means that some of the sites that they point you to may have nothing to do with what you are looking for.
It is also important to note that ANYONE can put ANY information onto the Internet. There is no editorial control, and the reader should often question the credibility of what is read and the author who has written it.
The above facts, though, do not take away from the incredible bulk of quality information that can be found by searching the Internet. Information on almost every subject is available from sources all over the globe. There is no better tool to find this information than a search egine.
For the most part, there are two types of search engines: spiders and databases. Knowledge of the type of search engine you are using is helpful if not necessary when attempting to find specific information on the Internet.
Spiders get their name from they way that they find the information. Like living spiders, they creep along the Web hunting for new information. Engines that employ this type of search strategy usually find more obscure as well as more up-to-date information. The problem with the information found by these engines is it is not always trustworthy. It finds information without concern about the originator. It is up to the viewer to decide the value of the information found. For most non-critical searches, this type of search strategy will yield the most information. Excite, Webcrawler, and Altavista are examples of search engines that use this strategy.
Databases are search engines that maintain a database of sites. This list of sites is edited and often entered by a human operator. Due to the time exerted, these lists are not as extensive as those found by spiders, but the information tends to be more on topic and often more accurate. Yahoo is the most popular search engine that uses this strategy.
Surfing, although a very weak strategy, is commonly used by both beginners and experienced web users. By definition, it means to simply follow links until something interesting is found. This almost random nature has many deficiencies including the following:
This method is not altogether without merit, though. It can allow the user to find a variety of information when the exact topic of interest is not known. It also allows the user to explore and see "what is out there".
An additional benefit of this type of search is it can often find information not available through any search engine. The World Wide Web is a very dynamic environment. More often, the people involved in a specific interest know other people who have the same interest, and they can point you to them with far better accuracy than an automated search tool. They often know about new sites quicker than any search engine can find them.
If you find something that interests you, don't be afraid to surf to find more information. However, to avoid any wasted time and achieve a more directed search, one of the following two techniques should be used instead.
In this technique, the search begins from a specific topic and moves toward a more general topic. The idea behind this type of search is to find information on topics that are related to what you are initially looking for, but are not the specific topic. Some of the benefits of this type of search are:
EXAMPLE: Suppose you wish to find information on automobiles, but the only automobile you can think of is the one you own -- a 1987 Yugo hatchback. You start with this specific car, and find a link to all other models of Yugos. This link points to foreign cars, but you still can't find all of the information that you need. Eventually, the search leads to automobiles with internal combustion engines, and you have all of the information that you need. (Where the search ends is determined by the searcher, but it is most often the case that the search ends when "enough" useful information is gathered.)
It can be argued that this type of search is extremely similar to net surfing. In fact, when performed loosely, top-down search degenerates into simple surfing. For this reason, it is important to keep the goal of the search at all times. It is most helpful to keep a log of all of your searching activities. While this does not ensure that the goal will be met, it helps to keep the goal in site. Another benefit of the log is that it will allow the user to return to interesting sites (be certain to include the URL and a specific note as to the content of the information in the log).
Bottom-up searches are the antithesis of top-down procedures in that they proceed in the opposite direction. You start with a general topic and focus the search onto more specific topics. Benefits of this type of search are:
EXAMPLE: Suppose the topic you are interested in is movies. You enter movies into the search engine and find a link that points to action adventure movies. This link leads you to the movie Terminator, but there is still too much information for you to use. You finally settle on a link that points to Arnold Schwarzenegger's role in that particular movie.
Again, it is important to note that if you lose track of the goal, this type of search breaks down into simple net surfing. It is critical that the searcher tries to continue to move toward more specific information. It is easy to get off of the topic by going the opposite direction.
Remember to keep a log. This will be beneficial when trying to find the same information again.
