Internet SearchingDBS LibraryInternet Searching Series

Internet search engines

Before you begin

Below are some general Internet search engines and catalogs. No search engine or catalog is comprehensive, so it's important to try a variety of tools.

Search Engine Web address

AltaVista http://www.altavista.com/

Google http://www.google.com/

Google Groups http://groups.google.com/

HotBot http://www.hotbot.com/

Ixquick Metasearch http://www.ixquick.com/

Metacrawler Metasearch http://www.metacrawler.com/

Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/

Selective web guide : IPL http://www.ipl.org/

Selective web guide : LII http://www.lii.org/

Selective web guide : About.com http://www.about.com/

Before you begin your search consider the following

1. What UNIQUE WORDS, DISTINCTIVE NAMES, ABBREVIATIONS, or ACRONYMS are associated with your topic? These may be the placeto begin because their specificity will help zero in on relevant pages.

2. Can you think of societies, organizations, or groups that might have information on your subject via their pages? Search these as a“phrase in quotes”, looking for a home page that might contain links to other websites on your subject.

3. What other words are likely to be in any Web documents on your topic?

4. Do any of the words in 1, 2, or 3 belong in phrases or strings -- together in a certain order, like a cliché? Search these as a “phrase inquotes”. (E.g., “affirmative action” or “communicable diseases”)

5. For any of the terms in 4, can you think of synonyms, variant spellings, or equivalent terms you would also accept in relevantdocuments?

6. Can you think of any extraneous or irrelevant documents these words might pick up? You may want to exclude terms or phrases with-[no space] before each term, or AND NOT

What BROADER terms could your topic be covered by? When browsing subject categories or searching databases on your topic, trybroader categories.

Dublin Business School Library http://library.dbs.ie

13/14 Aungier Street | Dublin 2 | Phone: 01-417 757219/22 Dame Street | Dublin 2 | Phone 01-417 8745

Email: library@dbs.ie

Building your search

Special operators for Google

Building a query requires the use of Boolean operators that allow you to refine and extend the terms of the search.

The Boolean operators most often seen are:

• AND - All the terms joined by "AND" must appear in the pages or documents. “+" also used for AND.

• OR - At least one of the terms joined by "OR" must appear in the pages or documents.

• NOT - The term following "NOT" must not appear in the pages or documents. "-" also used for NOT.

• FOLLOWED BY - One of the terms must be directly followed by the other.

• NEAR - One of the terms must be within a specified number of words of the other.

Vacation hawaii finds pages containing the words vacation and Hawaii .

Maui OR Hawaii finds pages containing either the word Maui or the word Hawaii

"To each his own“ finds pages containing the exact phrase to each his own

virus –computer finds pages containing the word virus but NOT the word computer

media studies site:www.dbs.edu search DBS website for media studies

Oscars 2000…2004 (Search for information on Oscars between 2000 and 2004

budget Ireland date: 3 search for Irish budget references within past 3 months;

6 and 12-month date-restrict options also available)

safesearch: sex education search for sex education material without returning adult sites

inurl:marketing finds websites with marketing in the url

define:computer definitions of the word computer from around the Web.

~auto loan loan info for both the word auto and its synonyms: truck, car, etc.

Dublin Business School Library http://library.dbs.ie

13/14 Aungier Street | Dublin 2 | Phone: 01-417 757219/22 Dame Street | Dublin 2 | Phone 01-417 8745

Email: library@dbs.ie

Information quality

It is necessary to carefully evaluate any information you find on the internet. The quality of information can vary a great deal.

You must ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is the author/publisher of the material?

• Are they a reputable source?

• What are their reasons for providing this website?

• Are they impartial or biased towards a particular viewpoint?

• How up-to-date is the website?

• How recently were the web pages updated?

• Do all the links work?

• Has the information been well presented?

• Is the site easy to read and to navigate?

• Can the information be accessed all the time and at an acceptable speed?

Referencing

It is important to reference any material you use from the internet as you would with any textbook or journal article. The principlesof referencing internet sources involve the same basic principles. Additional details you need to note include the complete url forthe page you have referred to and the date on which you accessed it.

A guide to referencing which includes examples is available in the Library.

Check out the help section on anyof the search engines you use asthey often have good hints andadditional options for searching.