Lesson 3 - Wrapping Up Search Engines

Part 1 : Phrase Searching Practice

Using InfoSeek (http://www.infoseek.com), try each of the three searches using both non-phrase searching (no quotes) and phrase searching (with quotes) to search for the following famous quotations. Time how long it takes you to find each answer using quotes and using no quotes in your search.

Search One

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Who said this? Recored time required to find answer.

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Record time required to find answer.

Search Two

Snug as a bug in a rug

Who said this? Record time required to find answer.

"Snug as a bug in a rug"

Record time required to find answer.

Search Three

640K ought to be enough for anybody

Who said this? Record time required to find answer.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody"

Record time required to find answer.

What can you conclude from this experiment? "Hint - Does it help to put things into quotes?"

Part 2 : Practice With Boolean Operators

With regard to the four examples shown below, answer the following questions. (Without doing the search)

• "peanut butter" and jelly
• "peanut butter" and not jelly
• "peanut butter" or jelly

1. Which query would result in the largest number of hits?
2. Which query would result in the smallest number of hits?
3. Which query would result in a number somewhere in between the above two?

Now, using AltaVista (Advanced) **Make sure that you enter the search phrase into the large text box that says Enter boolean expression:**, do the three searches, record the number of hits for each. Were your predictions correct?

Now try the same three seaches using HotBot (http://www.hotbot.com). Record the number of hits for each expression. What can you conclude about the HotBot search engine?

Part 3 : Practice with Wildcards

Using AltaVista (http://altavista.com) or Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), perform a search on the following topics.

1. Educate, record the number of hits
2. Science, record the number of hits

Now do the same two searches using a wild card.

1. Educat* , record the number of hits.
2. Scien* , record the number of hits.

Why do you see a difference in the number of hits recorded when you use a wildcard? - BE SPECIFIC.

Part 4 : Practice with Field Searching

1. Using Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com), search for pages that have your domain name in its URL.
   Hint: Your domain name is what follows your user name in your e-mail address. (salsec.sd8.bc.ca)
   Record the number of hits, examine your results.
2. Using AltaVista (http://altavista.com), try the same search. Record the number of hits, examine your results.

Why do you think that the number of results were different for Alta Vista vs Yahoo?

Congratulations - you are finished Lesson 3 !