Module.2 exercise 7.7 Understanding and comparing search engines.

My chosen exercise from module 2 is: Understanding and comparing search engines.

The objectives.

The objective of this exercise is to learn how to effectively use a search engine to find information on the web and get an understanding of how different terms are used. And to show different kinds of search engines are used in differing ways.

What I have learnt.

I learnt that there are basically two types of search engine. Subject based like Yahoo that search by category and goes through a hierarchical system to the final group list.
Example:
Computers and Internet > History

Computers and Internet > Internet > History

Computers and Internet > Internet > History > Internet Archive,

The second type is keywords based like Google and Alta Vista where words or phrases are looked for. The word automobile will find any occurrence of that word.
In both types the more specific you can be with your word or phrase the better your results will be, for example if you wish to find a real ale brewery in your area search for “real ale brewery AND name of town” not just ale or brewery.
 There is also the use of Boolean logic this is word like “AND” “OR” and “NOT” or a combination of each. The phrase “real ale NOT Theckstons” will only find real ale pages that do not contain Theckstons, a variation on this is to use “+” and “-“ signs.
 

How it as developed.

To develop this skill I try using different search engines to find different types of information, and look to see if there is a sub category in the larger engines.

References.

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