Web Search Evaluation & Citation

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   1. Course Background
   2. Prepare to Search
   3. Search Examples
2. Learn
   1. Searching
   2. Subject Guides
   3. Subject Guides Example
   4. Web Directories
   5. Web Directories Example
   6. Search Engines
   7. Search Engine Example
   8. MetaSearch Engines
   9. MetaSearch Engine Example
   10. Preparing to Search
   11. Think about your topic
   12. List Search Terms
   13. Communicating with Search Tools
   14. Search Operator: AND
   15. Search Operator: OR
   16. Search Operator: NOT
   17. Advanced Searches
   18. Evaluation
   19. Finding Information
   20. Validating Sources
   21. Using Alexa
   22. Using Wayback Machine
   23. Using Search Engines
   24. Citation
   25. Online Citation Tools
   26. Starting Noodle Tools
   27. Using Noodle
   28. Using Citation Machine
   29. Using Source Aid
3. Practice
   1. Searching
   2. Evaluation
   3. Citation
4. Discuss
   1. WikiSpaces Discussion
5. Reflect & Assess
6. Collaborate & Contribute
   1. Feedback
7. Extend

Search Engines

Search Engines

Search Engines are actually large databases of web pages, created and maintained by computer programs. These programs, called spiders, crawl the web and scan web pages for keywords included in the metatags (Click for an example: metatags are information embedded in the source code of a web page that tell a search engine about the content of a page) or in the page itself.

These contain a very large amount of information that can be confusing if you do not communicate well with the search engine. Obtaining too much information can be as frustrating as not finding enough.