Unit 4-1 Searching for Information

After completing this unit, you will be able to:

• Conduct subject-oriented searches of World Wide Web directories.
• Search by key word to find what you are looking for.
• Perform full-text searches of the Web’s full-text indexes.
• Use the advanced search syntax to find what you are looking for efficiently.
• Perform concept searches based on ideas instead of specific key words.
• Use metasearching to search via several search engines at once.
• Know how to get online help from human beings who will conduct searches on your behalf.
• Conduct scholarly searches across a broad range of academic disciplines.
• Use multimedia search engines to find pictures, audio, and video, in addition to text.
• Search Usenet newsgroups to find information in discussions of current research topics.
• Learn how to search the Web for people and find the person you are looking for.
• Get maps and driving instructions.
• Find out about new search engines and improved search strategies.

Reading

Read chapter 11 of the Internet Literacy textbook to study the concepts covered by this unit.

Online Activities

• Go to the subject-oriented searching section of the Interlit Web site, and use the subject index to find something you are interested in. Follow the link to Yahoo, for example, and use Yahoo's directory structure to find a subject you are interested in, such as your favorite hobby or your favorite subject in school.
• Keyword searching lets you look for specific things you want to know about. Use one of the keyword search engines at the Interlit Web site to search for something specific that you need to know.
• Concept-oriented searches can expand an idea into related topics and search them automatically. Use one of the concept-oriented search engines to perform the same search you tried in the previous exercise, and compare the results you get.
• Metasearch engines conduct searches by submitting your search terms to more than one search engine at a time. To see how this works, follow the Interlit Web site links to one of the metasearch tools and try your search there.
• In addition to helping you find Web pages, newsgroups, and scholarly documents, the Internet can also help you locate people. Follow the link to people searches and try to find some famous person or someone you have lost touch with.
• The exercises at the end of Chapter 11 are designed to help hone your search skills. You should work through these exercises in order to develop the skills you will need to do a good job of researching the term paper you will write later on in this course.