Internet Searching Made Easy

Last Updated: 2007

2

Lesson Plan

• Review

• Lesson 1: Finding information on the Internet

– Web address– Using links– Search engines

• Lesson 2:Search Engine Strategies

– Keyword searching– Reducing the number of results

• Lesson 3:Finding Reliable Results

3

Review: What is the Internet?

• Computers connected to each other around the world

• Accessible to billions of people worldwide

• Offers many free services including:- Email- Chatting- World Wide Web

• The Internet is also called “The Net” or being “online”

4

Review: Browsers

• Computer software that lets you read information on the Internet.

• Most popular browser is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.– Great alternatives include Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

• Use “Website addresses” to find information– E.g. www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca

5

Lesson 1: The Website Address

http://www.gov.ns.ca/premier/

Tells the browser to “Use the

Web”

The “Website” address, also known as the website’s “Home

Page.”

The “Premier” page on the website

6

Lesson 1: The Next Step

• Q: How do I find information on the Internet if I do not know the web address?

• A1: Click links until a page leads you to the information you want.

• A2: Use an Internet Search Engine.

7

Lesson 1: Using Links

• Website use “links” to lead people from one page to another.– To go to another page, you “click” (just once!) on the link.

– These links are generated by humans.

• When you put the mouse pointer [ ] over a link, it turns into a hand [ ].

• Links are usually bolded, underlined and/or have a different colour than other text on a website.– Sometimes pictures can be links too.

8

Lesson 1: “Websites” versus “Pages”

• Every website can have one or more pages– The first page on a website is called “The Home Page” and usually

has pictures to help tell you where you are.

– To make it easy to get to the “Home Page” Websites:• Make their logo link to the Home Page• Or have a Link called “Home”

• A link can lead to:– A page inside the website

– The homepage of another website

– A page inside another website.

9

Try This

• Go to www.cbc.ca

• Find the “links” on the page– How can you tell something is a link?

– Do the pictures contain links as well? How do you know?

• Click on a link and see where it goes– How can you get back to the cbc.ca page?

10

Lesson 1: Search Engines

• Display a list of websites based on words that are typed into a search box (keywords).

• Display the most relevant websites first.– Pages with many “reliable” links show first.

– Pages selected most often by other searches show higher.

– Results are machine generated.

– There will like be irrelevant results.

11

Lesson 1: Popular Search Engines

• Google (about 49% of searches)• Yahoo (23.8%)• MSN (9.8%)• AOL Search (6.3%)• Ask (2.6%)• Others (8.5%)

12

This button takes you to the first web page Google returned for your query. You will not see the other search results at all.

Google Canada is also available in French

Google Canada is just one of the flavours of Google

Lesson 2: Searching with Google

13

Lesson 2: Keyword Searching

Enter your search terms (keywords) into the search box

Enter your search terms (keywords) into the search box

14

Lesson 2: Interpreting Your Google Search Results

A list of websites that have paidto be included with the results of your selected keywords

A list of websites that have paidto be included with the results of your selected keywords

Each result has 3 details

1. Title of website2. Text sample3. Web address

Each result has 3 details

1. Title of website2. Text sample3. Web address

15

Lesson 2: Interpreting Your Google Search Results

Google divides the results into manageable sets of pages for viewing

Google divides the results into manageable sets of pages for viewing

Simple keywords can return many search results

Simple keywords can return many search resultsGoogle also suggests more

refined results using more keywords that are related to similar subjects

Google also suggests more refined results using more keywords that are related to similar subjects

16

Lesson 2: Keyword Searches

• When searching for 1+ keywords, Google automatically searches for all keywords entered into the search box.

chicken soup is the same as chicken AND soup

17

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

Reducing the Number of Results

1. Use more descriptive keywords

Example:

chicken soup vs. spicy chicken soup recipe

18

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

TRY THIS:

1. Search for soup recipe. How many results do you get?

2. Search for chicken soup recipe. How many results do you get?

3. Search for spicy chicken soup recipe. How many results do you get?

19

http://ile-maurice.tripod.com/mulluk.htm

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

20

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

Reducing the Number of Results

2. Use phrase searching.

Example: “spicy chicken soup” recipe

21

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

TRY THIS:

1. Search for spicy chicken soup recipe. How many results do you get?

2. Search for “spicy chicken soup” recipe. How many results do you get?

22

Reducing the Number of Results

3. Using a “-” in front of a keyword you can remove all results with that search term.(Note: There is NO space between the minus sign and the search term.)Example: halifax genealogy -virginia

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

23

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

TRY THIS:

1. Search for halifax genealogy. How many results do you get?

2. Look at results on pages 1 and 2. Do you see any that relate to a Halifax that isn’t in Nova Scotia?

3. Now search for halifax genealogy –virginia. Google reads the search as “Look for ‘halifax genealogy’ but NOT ‘virginia’. How many results do you get?

That’s gotten rid of the results related to the Halifax in Virginia, but how do we eliminate the results for Halifax, Yorkshire, England?

24

Lesson 2: Finding Better Results

TRY THIS (cont’d)

3. Search for halifax genealogy –virginia –yorkshire. How many results do you get?

4. Search for halifax genealogy –virginia –yorkshire –england. How many results do you get?

5. You’ve just found out that there’s a Halifax in Australia. How can you change your search to filter out Halifax, Australia?

25

Try This

1. Go to google.com2. Try searching: Halifax3. Click on the title link for:

1. The top item2. The third item from the top

4. Do you see . . .?:1. The title of the website?2. The sample text?3. The website address?

5. Repeat steps 2-5 but this time search for sidney crosbie.

6. Search for brad gushoo.

26

Try this

1. Go to google.com

2. Try Searching1. halifax regional municipality

2. halifax england

3. halifax library

4. “halifax library”

5. “[your name]”

27

Lesson 3: Finding Reliable Sites

• Not all web pages offer reliable information (but neither do all books, magazines and newspapers)

– Be a critical web consumer!

– Some people like to talk about hobbies on their website, but are not experts

– Search engines are pretty good at finding good information, but they are not perfect

28

Lesson 3: Four Strategies

• Who is writing the information?– Can you trust them to answer your question?

• Why are they writing the information?

• Is the information up to date?

• Does the site have any errors that you notice?

29

Lesson 3: Who is writing the information?

• Reliable sites usually identify who they are.

• Look for links to an “About” page– the information should be specific and should include:

• A name of someone responsible for the information• A description of what the organization or individual does• Where they are located and who they serve• Specific contact information• Names of executive members and their roles if it is an organization or

business

30

Try This

• Go to www.customerservicesummit.org– Who owns the site?

– Find a name of someone responsible for this information.

– Is this a reliable site?

– Is there any other information that helps you tell whether this is reliable or not?

• Go to www.csa.ca– Who owns the site?

– Find a name of someone responsible for this information.

– Is this a reliable site?

– Is there any other information that helps you tell whether this is reliable or not?

31

Lesson 3: Why are they writing the information?

• Reliable websites usually make their purpose obvious.– Education

– Sales of products or services

– Influence or inform you about a particular issue

– Fun/games

– Social interaction

32

Lesson 3: Look Out For. . .

• Lots of Advertisements

• Lots of Grammar and Spelling Errors– Unreliable sites use spelling errors and bad grammar to keep

Google from recognizing them as unreliable. E.g.. “1vory Coast” instead of “Ivory Coast.”

• “Facts” stated without a note about where they got it– Experts say that 99 % of computer instructors are geniuses (Do you

believe me?).

33

Try This

• Go to www.atkins.com – What is the purpose of this website?

– Recap: Who is responsible for the information on this website?

• Go to www.atkinsdietalert.org – What is the purpose of this website?

– Recap: Who is responsible for the information on this website?

34

Lesson 3: Is the Information Up-to-Date?

• Reliable websites usually update their information frequently and show when they did it

• Look a date that shows how up-to-date the site is

• Look for other signs as well:– Old addresses in the contact

section– News that happened long ago– Links that are not working

35

Recap

• Ways to access web pages– Web address

– Using links

– Search engines

• Search Engine Strategies– Keyword searching

– Reducing the number of results

• Finding Reliable Information

36

The End

Any Questions?