ADVANCED SEARCHING SKILLS & GOOGLE EXPLORATIONSMuhammad Asif MunirSenior Librarian/Deputy ManagerLahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

National Textile University, FaisalabadWednesday, February 23, 2011

SCHEMA

Web searching tools Web searching techniques Google explorations

SEARCH TOOLS

A search tool is a computer program that performs searches on the web

Each search tool’s web site comprises of a store of information called database linked to other databases at other Web sites.

TYPES OF SEARCH TOOLS

Directory search tool Search engine tool Meta search tool Scholarly search engines Online databases Library web OPACs

DIRECTORY SEARCH TOOL

The search method it employs is also known as a subject search. Examples are:

msn directory WWW Virtual

library

DIRECTORY SEARCH TOOL

Advantage: It is easy to use. The information placed in its database is reviewed and indexed by skilled persons to ensure its value.

Disadvantage: The numbers of reviews are limited because directory reviews and indexing take plenty of time.

SUBJECT DIRECTORIES

Also called Information Gateways and Virtual Libraries Yahoo Directory Google Directory Librarians’ Internet Index About.com Infomine The WWW Virtual LibrarySpecialized Subject Directories

Abi Logic (Business) Solid Crawler (Business) Academic Info (online education) SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway)

SEARCH ENGINE

A web-based software / application Searches and retrieves files across the

Web against particular keywords or phrases

Keywords or phrases are defined/developed by the user according to his need for information

FAMOUS SEARCH ENGINES

http://www.google.com

http://www.yahoo.com

http://www.bing.comExcellent for images & videos

http://www.ask.com Provides answers to questions

http://www.altavista.com

META SEARCH ENGINES

A web application / software Searches multiple search engines simultaneously in a single interface Does not keep any physical database, it simply searches others’

databases, combines the results, removes duplicates and displays them

Underlying philosophy:

It is assumed that the web is too large to be indexed by any of the search engines individually and more comprehensive search results can be obtained by combining the results from several search engines.

When to use a meta search engine? When your topic is obscure When you are not having luck finding what you want When you want the convenience of searching a variety of different

content sources from one search page

ARCHITECTURE OF A METASEARCH ENGINE

META SEARCH ENGINES SOME EXAMPLES

http://www.dogpile.com, Searches Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask Simultaneously

http://www.info.com, Searches Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask and About Simultaneously

http://www.browsys.com/Searches Google, Yahoo, Bing, Blogs, Youtube, Mashpedia, Twitter, Ask etc. simultaneously

info.com

browsys.com

dogpile.com

SCHOLARLY SEARCH ENGINES

Google Scholar Infomine Librarians’ Internet Index Intute Pinakes Business Research ISI Web of Science

ONLINE DATABASES

Bibliographic databases ERIC, Agricola, Medline, EconLit, PsychINFO

Statistical databases Stat-USA, UN Common Database, PC-TAS

Full text databases ScienceDirect, Emerald, JSTOR

LIBRARY WEB OPACS

LUMS Library Portal (libraryportal.lums.edu.pk)

Libdex Worldwide index of library catalogs

World Cat 1.4 billion items from 10,000+ libraries

worldwide Library of Congress The British Library National Library of Pakistan

TIPS FOR BETTER SEARCHES

Keep it simple Think architecture of the page you are looking

for Determine the extent of required information Describe potential keywords (descriptors and

their synonyms) that best express your information need

Try to visualize your potential source of information

Try your luck with different keywords

WEB SEARCHING TECHNIQUES

Boolean Operators [AND, OR, NOT]

Phrase Searching[“ ”, ( )]

Truncation / Wildcard Searching [*, #, ?,~]

Proximity Searching [Near or adjacent]

Focusing / Limiting a Search [date, journal article, Book, etc.]

BOOLEAN OPERATORS Boolean operators allow you to join terms

together, widen a search or exclude terms from your search results. This means you can be more precise in locating your information.

AND

OR

NOT

WHY SEARCH GOOGLE?

Google searches more than 8 billion URLs.

Only those pages will be shown which include the terms you type.

Offers proximity search You see what you're getting before

you click. Click feel lucky and save time. Can get it, even when it's gone.

Google Images

Google News

Google Books

Google Scholar

Google Translate

GOOGLE STANDARD SEARCH PAGE

GOOGLE ADVANCED SEARCH PAGE

GOOGLE SEARCH OPERATORS

Basic search operators Advanced search operators Google Web Search Features

BASIC SEARCH OPERATORS

Include search or “+” Search Exclude search or “-” Search Synonyms search or “~” Search OR search or “|” search AND search (a space between two terms) Phrase search (“ ”) Wildcard search “*” Numrange search or “..” Search

ADVANCED SEARCH OPERATORS

File type: Site: Cache: Link: Define: Related:

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Book Search Use Google to search the full text of books.

Cached Links View a snapshot of each page as it looked when we indexed it.

Calculator Use Google to evaluate mathematical expressions.

Currency Conversion Easily perform any currency conversion.

Definitions Use Google to get glossary definitions gathered from various online sources.

File Types Search for non-HTML file formats including PDF document

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Groups See relevant postings from Google Groups in your regular web search results.

 I'm Feeling Lucky Bypass our results and go to the first web page returned for your query.

 Images See relevant images in your regular web search results.

 Local Search Search for local businesses and services in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Movies Use Google to find reviews and showtimes for movies playing near you.

 Music Search Use Google to get quick access to a wide range of music information.

News Headlines Enhances your search results with the latest related news stories.

 PhoneBook Look up U.S. street address and phone number information.

 Product Search To find a product for sale online, use Google Product Search.

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Q&A Use Google to get quick answers to straightforward questions.

Refine Your Search - New! Add instant info and topic-specific links to your search in order to focus and improve your results.

 Results Prefetching Makes searching in Firefox faster.  SafeSearch Block web pages containing explicit

sexual content from appearing in search results.  Search By Number Use Google to access package

tracking information, US patents, and a variety of online databases.

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Similar Pages Display pages that are related to a particular result.

Site Search Restrict your search to a specific site.

Spell Checker Offers alternative spelling for queries.

Stock and Fund Quotes Use Google to get up-to-date stock and mutual fund quotes and information.

Street Maps Use Google to find U.S. street maps.

GOOGLE WEB SEARCH FEATURES

Travel Information Check the status of an airline flight in the U.S. or view airport delays and weather conditions.

Weather Check the current weather conditions and forecast for any location in the U.S.

Web Page Translation  Provides you access to web pages in other languages.

Who Links To You? Find pages that point to a specific URL.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READINGS

http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features_list.html

http://www.google.com.pk/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=35890

http://www.google.com.pk/advanced_search?hl=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasearch_engine

http://www.google.com.pk/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=134479

http://techwebpro.com/seo-oriented-operators-for-google-search.html

THANK YOU