Tutorial 3: Searching the Web

       The internet is a worldwide resource of information and one of the main reasons people use the web is in order to find specific information, such as text, pictures, music, and video. In order to locate this information on the web we use search tools. There are two types of search tools, which are search engines and subject directories.

Search Engines:
Search engines are helpful in locating information in which you don't know the exact web address or are not looking for a specific web site. There are thousands of different search engines available for use. Some search engines will search all types of information, and others you can specify what type of information you want, such as images, videos, audio, news, maps, people or business, and blogs. When using a search engine you enter a word or phrase that is called the search text, and it describes the type of item you want to find. Search engines usually respond with thousands of results, depending on the type of search and how broad or specific your search is. Some search results link straight to web pages or articles, well others results are media. Many times you will find that items that appear from your search results have little or no purpose to what you are actually seeking. You can eliminate this by carefully entering search texts that will limit the search. In this next link is a great example of ways you can make you search text in the search engine Google more limited.   http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861
The results of a search are more commonly called hits, and each hit in the list is linked to the associated web site or web page, that was returned from your search. Most search engines use a program called a spider. This program builds and maintains lists of words found on web sites. When you enter your search, the search engine scans the prebuilt list for hits.

Subject Directories:
A subject directory provides a categorized list of links arranged by a subject. When using this type of search tool you select a particular topic, then by clicking links at different levels you go from general to more specific. Once you click on one category link the subject directory displays a list of subcategory links, from which you then again choose subcategory links. You continue doing this until you have reached a list of web pages about your desired topic. A major disadvantage factor about subject directories is that users have a difficult time choosing the right category they want as they move through the menus of links.

Sources:
< Picture created by Ethan Ashurst in Paint, Copyright 2011 > 


< Gary B. Shelly and Misty E. Vermaat. Discovering Computers 2010. ch.2. pgs. 85-88 >