We Know, You Know

You may already feel that you know how to search as you have done many searches on the Internet. Chances are you taught yourself to search through trial and error. You go to your favorite search tool, often a search engine, and type in what you are looking for. Once the results come up, you click through the first few sites. If this isn't working, you type in new keywords and try again.

The Planning & Searching module will help save you time by teaching you how to search more efficiently and effectively. If you are already a successful searcher, the module will help fill in your searching gaps as well as share ways for you to teach your students to safely search the Internet.

Where to Begin

Where should you start? Number one. Know what you want to find before you start looking. The information you are looking for should inform your search. Are you interested in finding:

Specific current dynamic information? Choose a search directory that offers a browsable list of topics to choose from. Specific information on a specific topic? Try an online clearinghouse which specializes in that topic. Various sites with specific search terms? Use a search engine to retrieve many sites. Surveying a topic to see what resources are available? Try a metasearch engine that queries several search engines.

Before choosing your search tool, think about your topic or information you are looking for. Begin offline. Write down the information you are looking for in a question, sentence, or phrase. Underline the key words and come up with a few synonyms or forms of each of the key words. Combine the key words and synonyms with operators. Finally, the online part, choose where you will search.

Although directories, clearinghouses, search engines, and metasearch engines are all search tools, they each have their own look and way of working. For example, some search engines use relevancy rankings while others use popularity rankings. There is also the "Invisible" Web to consider as well as specific search tools for educators such as the Michigan Teacher Network. Finally, don't forget the offline traditional print resources such as books and journals.

The Basics

To save you time as well as help you to make sense of various kinds of search tools, Beaufort Library at the University of South Carolina provides a basic tutorial on searching the Web called Bare Bones 101. Bare Bones 101 provides a detailed overview on searching including how to communicate with the search tool using operators. Explore the tutorial, Creating a Search Strategy, to learn more about the first couple steps in a search.

Now that you are more familiar with beginning a search and how to use various operators such as plus (+) and minus (-) signs, truncation (wildcards) (*), as well as double quotation marks (" "), take a look at some other ways to search the Internet by Field Searching. Knowing how to communicate with the search tool, narrow your search, and trouble shoot are very important search skills.

It's Your Turn

After the search tool has done its job, it's your turn. Once you receive the results page of a search tool, it is important to know how to evaluate the list of results. Instead of clicking on the first few links, look at the number of results and then skim the descriptions, titles, and URLs. Click on the one that sounds relevant. If none of the results look relevant, refine your search or choose another place to search. The Birds and the Bees: Revisiting Search Basics by Marcia Mardis should help sum it all up for you.