The lecture.
Today's lecture was dedicated to the use of search engines, the advantages and disadvantages of a search engine, problems you can encounter from using a search engine, how to overcome these problems, and how to use a search engine to benefit your studies.
The lecture also discussed such information as the three types of categories of information on the web, what exactly what a search engine was and a few of the main categories of search engines, one being Google which was what i use everyday on a personal and business level.
Some of the problems of search engines that were discussed in the lecture is that there are too many results, most of them irrelevant and of poor quality, but I learnt to overcome this problem in week 2, by narrowing down my search or using the advanced search option on Google.
The lecturer also discussed the benefits of directories, especially human directories which have now come into place for Wikipedia.
From this lecture i was able to gain a better understanding of search engines, exactly what they are, and how to overcome the problems that may arise when using a search engine.
What i found particularly beneficial from today's lecture was the list of search tips.
I thought this lecture was a great help to really be able to specify my search and be able to narrow down my results so that I was obtaining relevant and good quality websites.
The tutorial.
The tutorial was an extensions of the lecture and was based around practical work testing our knowledge of what we have learnt during the lecture.
I thought this tutorial was pretty straight forward and basic, but I didn't know i could learn so much from it, and how important it was to structure a good search.
I found that a good research all comes down to how good you structure a search, which can mean the difference between finding the information you need, or not finding it at all.
The quiz was a great way to put to test the search strategies I had come up with, because the questions asked were very precise, and if one phrase or word was incorrect or out of place, the answer you were looking for was either not there, or had so many alternate web pages that were completely irrelevant.
1. Four strategies to help you structure a good search.
1. Narrow down your search by using key words or phrases.
2. If using Google use the advanced search button.
3. Be sure of exactly what your looking for and take your time, maybe some links you weren't looking for could be exactly what you need.
4.Use the right search engine for the topic of search you have chosen.
2.
3.Strategies i used to locate my answers.
1. Keyword and phrases only
2. Google as a search engine
3. clicked on the best quality and most relevant sites which usually are shown in the first few pages.
4. carried out a broader search if i couldn't find an answer just using keywords.
Summarise.
From carrying out these exercises and learning about search engines through my tutorial, i know feel completely confident about using search engines and gaining excellent websites and fast.
I also have come to realise that sometimes it is hard to search for a keyword or phrase, and searching a broader topic can actually benefit your learning.
This tutorial has definitely helped me and will continue to help me for my future studies and to when i need to obtain specific information.
1.Reading:(URL) - Robert Harris: "Web Search Strategies"
The following website gives us search tips and strategies that can easily let us answer the following questions when researching, How can i find what i want?, and how to i know that what i find is any good?
The website is divided into subheadings, and under each subheading is information, descriptions and examples for that topic.
From this website we are give information under the following subheadings,
-Categories of information from the web
-Search tool types
-Quick guide to choosing a starting place
-Word searches with search engines
2.Reading:(URL) - The History of the Internet: (Chap 4 - Search Engines)
From this website we are able to get a better understanding of how a search engine works, and introduction to the world wide web and how it came about in the beginning and how its progressed through the years, How we find information on the net, what to do and what NOT to do to insure a good quality search, What a virtual library is, Databases and search engine sizes, and a list of popular search engines, and their progression through the years IE:
-Yahoo
-Alta Vista
-Northern Light
3.Reading:Search Engine Optimisation for Companies
This website determines if your small business website is ready for search engine optimization, because the majority of small business web sites that are analyzed, use design components that are incompatible with search engine spider robots, lack sufficient descriptive text or have navigation problems.
The website gives a list of tips when searching a topic on a search engine. These tips are discussed in further detail, and also discuss why they need to be used.
To insure search engine optimisation, the following list needs to be remembered and taken into account,
-Keyword Analysis:
-Setting your benchmark:.
-Search Engine Optimisation:
-Link Popularity:
-Measuring your Progress
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