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The
Internet Search Engine FAQ/Tips Page
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Page last modified: 09 February 2009 |
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The
Internet Search Engine FAQ/Tips Page
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Page last modified: 09 February 2009 |
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1. WHY IS INTERNET SEARCHING NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD? Because Search Engines try to do the impossible - provide an easy interface to an incredible mass of unorganized information! The human element, that's you, plays an important part in all of this - you cannot stand on the side and say "I cannot find any decent information on the Internet!". You have to dive in and get involved - that's the only way to get somewhere. That is the reason for the existence of these pages - read on! |
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2. WHERE CAN I FIND A LIST OF SEARCH ENGINES WITH THEIR ADDRESSES? See a list of search engines with their URL's and comments on features by clicking here. |
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3. I OFTEN RECEIVE THOUSANDS OR EVEN MILLIONS OF ANSWERS WHEN SEARCHING - DOES THAT MEAN I'M DOING WELL? Unfortunately
not! Quite the opposite is true: once you consistently end up with between
one and about 50 answers after an Internet search, you can call yourself
a savvy searcher. |
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4. WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD TO FOLLOW IF I WANT TO FIND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?
The best method is unfortunately not the shortest or simplest (see next FAQ). It is a good idea to know what the ideal situation is when searching for information on the Internet. One seldom achieves this ideal, but you can often get close to it, which will make you a successful Internet searcher. The steps below describe this ideal situation - after some exercise you should get very close to it! STEP
1.
One
word or even a phrase is not good enough. Some bad examples, in each
case followed by a better one, follows:
BAD: I need information on Educational Institutes. BETTER: I need to find the postal addresses of all the Polytechnics in the UK. BAD: How old is the President? BETTER: What is the date of birth of the President of the United States? BAD: Who won the Tour de France? BETTER: Who was the overall winner of the Tour de France cycling race in 2002?
STEP
2.
Load any Search Engine with which you are familiar. If you don't know any, click on any URL listed in bold italics on my list of URL's. STEP
3. Basic
single word searching STEP
4. STEP
5 |
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5. SKIP THE DETAIL - GIVE ME A FAST AND EASY WAY TO SEARCH! Ha-ha-ha! If there was one, these web pages would have no reason to exist. However, if you insist on a quick and easy way out, here goes: the most basic form of Internet Searching is by using a single word as Search Query. If the word is very general (computer, sports, weather, UK, etc), your chances of success are zero. You will probably get millions of answers, none of which appear to be relevant. If the word is rather specific, technical or has a strange spelling, your chances are better (derailleur, oesophagus, Einstein, etc). Either way, simply load the search engine, type the word into the search box, and click on GO/SEARCH/FIND/YES or whatever it is called on your search engine. If you want to expand on this method without getting too technical, simply type two or more consecutive words, separated by spaces. Use specific words, and omit general ones (like: the, that, computer, I, information, etc). |
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6. WHAT CAN I DO TO SPEED UP A SEARCH ENGINE - IT SEEMS SO SLOW! It
is often not the search engine, but the general Internet traffic causing
the problem. Try one of the following: |
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7. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SEARCH ENGINE I'M USING. WHERE CAN I GET HELP? Almost all search engines have a set of built-in Help menus. Some have a clear Help button or ? mark on the homepage, others are difficult to find. Some are well-written and easy to follow, others not. If you decide to use a search engine's Help menus, be brave and tackle them head-on! |
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8. CAN I USE LOWERCASE AND CAPITAL LETTERS ANY WAY I LIKE? You
can, but the quality of your answers will decrease. The following rules
are generally true for most search engines, and will raise the quality
of your answers: |
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9. IS IT IMPORTANT TO SPELL CORRECTLY WHILE SEARCHING? Most
certainly yes. If you misspell a word, the only answers you will receive
will be those of website authors who have made the same spelling mistake
as you! If you are unsure about the spelling of a word, try one of these: |
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10. WHAT OTHER EASY WAY IS THERE TO FILTER OUT RUBBISH ANSWERS? Use
phrase searching. Instead of typing in a single word as your search
query, type in two or more consecutive words, and enclose them in quotes.
The search engine will look for those words, exactly as you have spelt
them, in the sequence you typed them. It follows that the length of
the phrase determines the number of answers you receive (remember, you
should be aiming at fewer not more answers.) The longer the phrase,
the fewer the number of answers. However, if your phrase becomes so
long that it ends up being a sentence, you will probably get no answers
from the search engine. |
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11. WHAT ARE BOOLEAN OPERATORS? Boolean
operators, like AND, OR and NOT are more advanced filters which can
be used to filter out unwanted answers. Most search engines support
at least these 3 operators, while some also cover NEAR. Check the help
menus before trying them - in some cases you have to first click on
an "Advanced" tabe before typing in a search query containing Boolean
operators. |
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12. WHAT ARE META SEARCH ENGINES? Meta
search engines are programs which harness the power of more than one
other search engine to help you find information. They normally don't
have an index of their own, they simply pass your request for information
to more than one other search engine, combines and displays the results
on your screen. |
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13. I DON'T LIKE WORKING WITH A SEARCH ENGINE - IS THERE NO OTHER WAY TO SEARCH? You could try using FOIOTI - click here. FOIOTI asks you some simple questions about your search topic, then builds up a search query for you, and submits it to one, two or three search engines. You have a better chance of success with FOIOTI than by fiddling around with search engines without some basic understanding of their syntax and operation. |
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14. WHY CAN I NOT JUST TYPE A SIMPLE ENGLISH SENTENCE AND GET SOME ANSWERS? You can, if you use a search engine which supports Natural Language Searching. The best known example is probably AskJeeves - see my list of URL's. It responds to your question by offering a number of further choices or questions. Another search engine you can try is Northern Light. |