Searching the World Wide Web

Searching the World Wide Web can be both beneficial and frustrating. You may find vast amounts of
information, or you may not find the kinds of information you're looking for. Past studies have indicatde
that search engines index only about 16% of the total content on the Web and that they are biased toward
well known information. (One study found that Northern Light has about 16% of the total content and
Snap and Alta Vista each have about 15.5%; Lycos has about 2.5%.) Moreover, the content on search
engines can be at least several months old, although new indexing techniques are making this less likely.

So, using search engines is not the only way to find material on the web, but they are one tool you can
use. Knowing a few search strategies and hints, as you use these engines, can make the search more
profitable.

One way to improve your Web searching techniques is to meet with a Writing Lab tutor in the Lab (226
Heavilon, 494-3723), work together on the Web on one of our computers, and get some advice from the
tutor. We also have a search engine tutorial, and several PowerPoint presentations on searching the web.
In addition, the following suggestions should help.

Kinds of Search Engines

Catalogues
These are broken down into categories and are good for broad searches of established sites. For example, if you
are looking for information on the environment but not sure how to phrase a potential topic on holes in the
ozone, you could try browsing through Yahoo's categories. In Yahoo's "Society and Culture" category, there is a
subcategory of "environment" that has over subcategories listed under that. One of those subcategories is
"ozone depletion," with over twenty references, including a FAQ site. Those references can help you determine
the key terms to use for a more focused search.

Search engines

These ask for key words and phrases and then search the Web for results. Some search engines
look only through page titles and headers. Others look through documents. Many search engines
now include some categories as well.

Metasearch engines
These (such as Dogpile and Metacrawler) search other search engines and often search smaller, less well known
search engines and specialized sites.

Using a Search Engine

Learn how the search engine works

Read the instructions and FAQs to learn how that particular site works. Each search engine is
slightly different, and a few minutes learning how to use the site properly will save you large
amounts of time and prevent useless searching.

Each search engine has different advantages; for example, Alta Vista offers the option of selecting
which language you want to search in and HotBotpermits you to specify date, location, media
type, etc. for the references it searches for. Infoseek permits you to ask questions.

Select your terms carefully

Using inexact terms or terms that are too general will cause you problems. If your terms are too
broad or general, the search engine may not process them. Search engines are programmed with
various lists of words the designers determined to be so general that a search would turn up
hundreds of thousands of references. Check the search engine to see if it has a list of such
stopwords. One stopword, for example, is "computers."

If your early searches turn up too many references, try searching some relevant ones to find
more specific or exact terms. You can start combining these specific terms with NOT (see the
section on Boolean operators below) when you see which terms come up in references that are
 not relevant to your topic. In other words, keep refining your search as you learn more about the
terms.

You can also try to make your terms more precise by checking the online catalog of a library. For
example, check THOR+, the Purdue University Library online catalog, and try their subject word
search. Or try searching the term in the online databases in the library.

If you use AltaVista, you'll find their LiveTopics very useful. After you enter your key terms and
get the results, you will notice a LiveTopics option on the top of the page that has a list of
possible related keywords. You can highlight some and reject others to narrow your search.

Know Boolean operators

Most search engines allow you to combine terms with words (referred to as Boolean operators) such as "and,"
"or," or "not." Knowing how to use these terms is very important for a successful search.

AND

AND is the most useful and most important term. It tells the search engine to find your first word AND your
second word or term.

AND can, however, cause problems, especially when you use it with phrases or two terms that
are each broad in themselves or likely to appear together in other contexts.

For example, if you'd like information about the basketball team Chicago Bulls and type in
"Chicago AND Bulls," you will get references to Chicago and to bulls. Since Chicago is the center
of a large meat packing industry, many of the references will be about this since it is likely that
"Chicago" and "bull" will appear in many of the references relating to the meat-packing industry.

OR

OR is not always a helpful term because you may find too many combinations with OR. For example, if you
want information on the American economy and you type in "American OR economy," you will get thousands of
references to documents containing the word "American" and thousands of unrelated ones with the word
"economy."

Use OR when a key term may appear in two different ways. For example, if you want information
on sudden infant death syndrome, try "sudden infant death syndrome OR SIDS."

NEAR

NEAR is a term that appears only on some search engines, and it can be very useful. It tells the search engine
to find documents with both words but only when they appear near each other, usually within a few words.

For example, suppose you were looking for information on mobile homes, almost every site has a
notice to "click here to return to the home page." Since "home" appears on so many sites, the
search engine will report references to sites with the word "mobile" and "click here to return to
the home page" since both terms appear on the page. Using NEAR would eliminate that problem.

NOT

NOT tells the search engine to find a reference that contains one term but not the other.

Some search engine sites have advanced or power options for searches, and you can read about
those to see how they can help you.

Know the limitations of the Web and of search engines

The World Wide Web is a superb resource, but it doesn't contain all the information that you can
find in libraries. Don't expect to limit your search to what's on the Internet, and don't expect
search engines to find some very recent information or to find everything that is on the Web.
After you try several search engines, you will see that you get different results from different
sites. Also, remember that some information appears and then disappears from Web sites.

Search engines will put the most relevant sites at the top of their lists, but most engines
determine relevancy by the number of key term matches. This means that the most repetitive
site will be the most relevant in their list, and that may not turn up the best sites for your use.
Search Engines

Some of the most powerful search engines include the following that you'll find on OWL's Search Tools &
Directories on the Net.

Alta Vista

Dogpile (is a metasearch engine and will search other search engines)

Excite

Google

HotBot

Infoseek

Lycos

Metacrawler (is a metasearch engine and will search other search engines)

Northern Light

Open Text

Snap

WebCrawler

World Wide Web Worm

Yahoo

DejaNews (searches newsgroup postings)

People Search (has online white-page directories for telephone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses, etc.)

Big Yellow (has electronic yellow pages)

WebSeer (has a huge database of graphics)

All4one allows simultaneous searching of 4 search engines.

Other strategies for your searches

Don't limit your Internet searching to using search engines. Be creative and think about which Internet sites
might have the information you are looking for. For example, might any of the following lead you to the sites
that will provide the information you are looking for?

Our OWL also has a list of starting points for Internet research grouped by different fields of
interest, and some other general reference tools for searching the web that may help you to find
what you're looking for.

Looking for information about job opportunities? Look at some of the sites listing job vacancies. Try university
websites that sometimes list jobs through their placement offices, or try professional organizations which also sometimes
list jobs in that field. Or look through the websites of various large companies because they usually have a section on job
opportunities in their company.

Looking for information likely to be discussed on newsgroups or chat rooms? Look through the lists of
newsgroups or use a search engine like DejaVu.
Looking for information about a current topic? Check the newspaper and current newsmagazine sites. Most have a
search engine for articles in their publications.

Looking for data that might have been collected on a government site? Start with sites such as the Library of
Congress or The White House. If the data concerns a state or a foreign country, is there a site for that political entity?

Searching With an Index

There are two main types of indexes: those that are hierarchical (i.e. that lead one from a general topic to
a more specific one) and those that list sources in some sort of order (most commonly alphabetical).  The
first type of index often contains a broad range of topics while the second usually contains sources
designed to address a particular topic or concern.

Most search engines have some sort of index attached to them. More prominent and well-developed ones
include Yahoo!, InfoSeek, Google, andExcite.

Indexes are valuable for web researchers who have an area on which they want to focus, but do not yet
have a specific topic. An index can help a writer get general information or a "feel" for the topic.

An Example:

Go to Yahoo! (an index)

Find a topic that interests you ("education")

Follow it through specifics ("rural education", "Rural Education Institute")

"Rural Education Institute" is a specific topic that can be feasibly researched, either by following the listed links or by
using that phrase in a keyword search.

Searching with a Search Engine

A search engine is a device that sends out inquiries to sites on the web and catalogs any web site it
encounters, without evaluating it. Methods of inquiry differ from search engine to search engine, so the
results reported by each one will also differ.

Search engines maintain an incredibly large number of sites in their archives, so you must limit your
search terms in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed by an unmanageable number of responses.

Search engines are good for finding sources for well-defined topics. Typing in a general term such as
"education" or "Shakespeare" will bring back far too many results, but by narrowing your topic, you can
get the kind (and amount) of information that you need.

Example:

Go to Google (a search engine)

Type in a general term ("education")

Add modifiers to further define and narrow your topic ("rural education Indiana")

Be as specific as you can ("rural education Indiana elementary school")

Submit your search.

Adjust your search based upon the number of responses you receive (if you get too few responses, submit a more general
search; if you get too many, add more modifiers).

Before you read a source or spend time hunting for it, begin by looking at the following information in the citation to
evaluate whether it’s worth finding or reading.
Internet sources can be very timely and very useful, but they should not be your sole source of
information because there are also books, journals, government publications, brochures, newspapers, etc.
to read, and knowledgeable people to interview.

Evaluating Internet sources is particularly difficult because anyone can put up anything he or she wants to
on the Internet. There is no way to monitor what’s there and no fact checking, though there are some site
ratings you can check.

Be sure to document what you find on the Internet in such a way that others can locate what you found.
This is most easily done when you accessed the data. Include the date you accessed the material since it
can be changed or updated later on. Be sure to browse around on the Web site to be sure you know who
the author is, what the sponsoring organization is, and so on so that you can cite the source fully and so
that you can evaluate it properly before including it in your paper.

Authorship
-Is there an author or organization clearly indicated? If there’s an author, go back to the questions
listed above about authors and ask yourself how reputable this person is. Can the author be
contacted? (If an e-mail address is given, you can contact that person or look up the address by
using the "finger" command.)

-What can you find out about the author?

If there is no information on the site, use a search engine or search Usenet. You may find the author’s
homepage or other documents which mention this person. Or look up the person on the Internet Directory
of Published Writers (http://www.writers.net). If the person is associated with a university, look at the
university Web site.

-If there is an organization sponsoring the page, what can you learn about the organization and who they
are?

(You can search the site by following links to its home page or going back to a previous level on the site by
eliminating the last part of the address, after a "/" mark or a period. Another way to find the organization
is to go to the View menu at the top of your Web browser and open the Document Information window
where the owner of the document is listed.)

Does the organization take responsibility for what’s on the site? Does it monitor or review what’s on the
site? Look at the address for the site. Does it end in .edu, indicating that it’s an educational institution? If
it has .gov, it should be fairly objective government-sponsored material. Addresses with .org are usually
non-profit organizations that are advocacy groups. (The Sierra Club is an example of an advocacy group.
Their postings will conform to their goals of environmental preservation. Information posted by advocacy
groups may be accurate but not entirely objective.) If the site has a .com address, it’s most likely
promoting or selling something.

Accuracy of information

-Is there documentation to indicate the source of the information? There may be a link to the original
source of the information.

-Can you tell how well researched the information is?

-Are criteria for including information offered?

-Is there a bibliography or links to other useful sites? Has the author considered information on those sites
or considered viewpoints represented there?

-Is the information current? When was it updated? (You can check at the bottom for a "last revised" date
and/or notice if there are numerous dead links on the site.)

-Is there any indication of bias on the site?

-Does the site have any credentials such as being rated by a reputable rating group? If you see a high
rating, is that because of the soundness of the content or the quality of the design? ( An attractive page is
not a reason for accepting its information as reliable.)
Goals of the site

-What is the purpose of the site? To provide information? Advertise? Persuade?

-Are the goals of the site clearly indicated?

-Who is the intended audience?

-Is there a lot of flash and color and gimmicks to attract attention? Is that masking a lack of sound
information or a blatant attempt to get you to do or buy something?

Access

-How did you find the site? Were there links from reputable sites? From ads? If you found the site through
a search engine, that means only that the site has the words in the topic you are researching prominently
placed or used with great frequency. If you found the site by browsing through a subject directory, that
may mean only that someone at that site registered it with that directory. 

Author
Credentials
To consider how reputable the author is, ask yourself the following questions:

What is the author’s educational background?

What has the author written in the past about this topic?

Why or how is the person considered an expert?

You can check The Library of Congress to see what else the person has written, and Book Review
Index and Book Review Digest may lead you to reviews of other books by this person. Your library may
have citation indexes that can also lead you to articles and other shorter pieces. For biographical
information, read Who’s Who in America or the Biography Index. There may also be information in the
publication such as previous writings, awards, and notes about the author. Your goal is to get some sense
of who this person is and why it’s worth reading what that person wrote.

References

Did a teacher or librarian or some other person who is knowledgeable about the topic mention this person?

Did you see the name listed in other sources?

When someone is an authority, you may find other references to this person. That is not a guarantee that
the person is reputable, but it does indicate a reason to think the person is worth reading. If you are
seeking viewpoints on a subject, it is useful to read this person’s writing because you should be aware of
various views and perspectives on many sides of an issue.

Institution

What organization, institution, or company is the person associated with?

What are the goals of the institution or organization?

Does it monitor what’s published? How rigorous is that review process?

Might this group be biased in some way? That is, are they trying to sell yousomething or convince you to
accept their view? Do they do disinterested research? (Don’t be convinced by the name of the organization
because some disguise their agenda by selecting a name that does not indicate what their real goals are.)
Timeliness

When was the source published? (For Web sites, see if there’s a "last revised" date at the bottom.)

Is that date current enough to be useful, or might there be out-dated material?

Is the source a revision of an earlier version? If so, it is not only likely to be more current but also
something that is valuable enough to revise. Check a library catalogue or Books in Print to see which is the
latest edition.

Publisher/Producer

Who produced or published the material?

Is the publisher reputable? For example, a university press or a government agency is likely to be a
reputable source that reviews what it publishes. That helps to ensure some quality control over the
material.

Is the group recognized in the field as being an authority?

Is the publisher likely to be an appropriate one for this kind of information? Or might the publisher or
group have a particular bias on this topic? (For example, if you are looking at a Web site for a particular
candidate for office, is the site sponsored by people trying to elect that person or opponents of that
candidate?)

Is there any sort of review process or fact checking? (If a pharaceutical company publishes data on a new
drug it is developing, has there been outside review of the data?)

Audience

Can you tell from the title (and perhaps the publisher) who the intended audience is?

Is there a point of view being promoted? Sometimes, sources of information are really infommercials
promoting the cause or product or bias of a particular group.

Might the material be too scholarly, too specialized, or too popular to be useful to you? (A three-volume
study on gene splitting may be more than you need for a five-page paper on a particular genetically
transmitted disease. But a half-page article on a visit to Antarctica won’t tell you much about research into
ozone depletion going on there.)

After you have asked yourself some questions about the citation and determined that it’s worth your time
to find and read the source, you can evaluate the material in the source as you read through it.

Read the preface.

What does the author want to accomplish?

Browse through the table of contents and the index.

This will give you an overview of the source. Is your topic covered in enough depth to be helpful?
If you don’t find your topic discussed, try searching for some synonyms in the index.

Check for a list of references or other citations that look as if they will lead you to related material that
would be good sources.

Determine the intended audience. Are you the intended audience? Consider the tone, style, level of
information, and assumptions the author makes about the reader. Are they appropriate for your needs?

Try to determine if the content of the source is fact, opinion, or propaganda.

 If you think the source is offering facts, are the sources for those facts clearly indicated?

Do you think there’s enough evidence offered? Is the coverage comprehensive?

(As you learn more and more about your topic, you will notice that this gets easier as you
become more of an expert. )

Is the language objective or emotional?

Are there broad generalizations that overstate or oversimplify the matter?

Does the author use a good mix of primary and secondary sources for information?

If the source is opinion, does the author offer sound reasons for adopting that stance? (Consider
again those questions about the author. Is this person reputable?)

Check for accuracy.

How timely is the source? Is source 20 years out of date? Some information becomes dated when
new research is available, but other older sources of information can be quite sound 50 or 100
years later.

Do some cross-checking. Can you find some of the same information given elsewhere?

How credible is the author? If the document is anonymous, what do you know about the
organization?

Are there vague or sweeping generalizations that aren’t backed up with evidence?

Are arguments very one-sided with no acknowledgement of other viewpoints?