Workshop 1: Teaching
and Technology: how and why
Using a Search Engine to
Find Sites and Images
1. Looking For George W.: Starting Your Search
Now that we know what search engines are, let's try them out while learning
about George W. Bush:
A
Basic Search:
-
open a Netscape browser window.
-
In the location field type the name of a search engine, (such as
hotbot, altavista, google, lycos, yahoo). Once the search engine
has loaded, a blank search field will appear at the top of the page.
-
Now enter in your search words: George W. Bush.. Click
on "Search." How many matches were found?
2. Limiting Your Search
Chances are, the number of matches you found in your search was a bit
overwhelming. By limiting your search, you will be able to reduce
your matches to a more reasonable number. All search engines have
a "Refine your Search"/"More Search Options" button, with features specific
to that particular search engine. Today we will just learn one simple way
to narrow a search: using quotation marks to search for exact phrases.
An
Advanced Search:
-
Return to the search engine main page and, using quotation marks, search
for the exact phrase by typing George W. Bush and St. Louis in the
search field. How many matches were found?
This number is probably still quite large, but you now have the skills
to continue limiting your search.
Find
a Site With an Image:
-
Limit your search to images of George W. To do this, go to AltaVista
and click on "Images" above the "Find this bar." Once the new page
loads, type in George W. in the search field.
It is important to note that many of you may have found sites with no pictures
of George W. This is because most general search engines (unless they are
search engines that look only for files and not for sites) do not look
for a picture of George W., but any web site that has a picture and mentions
George W.