ASU-Ask A Biologist

by C.J. Kazilek

Words to know before you read

Biased- when someone presents only one viewpoint. Biased articles do not give all the facts and often mislead the reader.
Boolean logic- A way to combine words called logical operators to improve search results. The Boolean system uses logical operators AND, OR, and NOT. Named after the English George Boole.
Keyword- a significant word from a title or document that is used to index content.

Metasearch Engines- A web site that searches other search engines. This allows a person to search many search engine databases from one web site.
Internet- a communications network that connects computers around the world.
Search engine- A web site that provides a way to search for content on the Internet. Usually search engines collect information on a large number of web sites and places them in an index that can be searched quickly to find needed information.

Searching for things on the Internet can be like hunting for a needle in a large haystack. Just how large is the Internet? As of 2001 there are an estimated 4.5 billion web pages and they are increasing at 7.3 million pages a day! That is as much information as you can find in the Library of Congress.

With all that information, you might think it would be easy to write a great paper. However, the Internet is just like any tool, it takes skill to get the best results. This is particularly true for science topics. If you want to write that great paper, you need to learn to use good searching skills. If you don't know these skills then you might as well start looking for that needle in the haystack.

Internet research skills...

Anyone who has used the Internet knows it can be a great place to find information. Searching for the information can also be frustrating and a waste of valuable time. Before we blame the Internet or the search engines let's get to the root of the problem. How do you find the information you need in that very large haystack of web pages? The answer is to learn some of the methods that will shorten your search. Here is a summary of tips and suggestions to help make your Internet searches more productive. All of the tips will help you locate and evaluate information. Some of them will also make those science topic searches easier.

Select any piece of the puzzle to learn more about finding what you need on the Internet.

Quiz yourself on the information you just read in this article!
Next have some fun with some puzzles based on this article or another article at Ask a Biologist.

Here are some other places to read and learn about searching the Internet.

On the Web:

There are many sites on the web that deal with search engines and finding information. Their web addresses can change. It is best to look for them using some of the search engines we use at Ask a Biologist and testing out what you have learned from this web article. Try searching with a combination of these key words: Internet, searching, search engines find, tips, techniques.

Search Strategies and Tutorial from the Nueva Library:

http://nuevaschool.org/~debbie/library/research/adviceengine.html

References:

"Cyveillance." July 10, 2000. http://www.cyveillance.com/web/us/newsroom/releases/2000/2000-07-10.htm
(August 3. 2001)

Search Engine Watch
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
(July 20. 2001)

Research Page