SEARCHING
THE INTERNET
The Web and
the Internet
The two are sometimes used interchangeably but there
is a difference.
ž The Internet connects computers
¡ File transfer, involving a variety of protocols (e.g.
ftp)
ž The web connects pages
¡
Hyperlinks: the http at the
beginning of the URL of every web page
The World Wide Web
The
World Wide Web or WWW or "The Web" consists of
documents which have been turned into web pages which are stored on computers
around the Internet. These pages are interconnected by hypertext links. Each
group of related pages in one location on the network is called a web site.
Information on any of these pages can be in any data format including text,
graphics, tables, sounds and movie clips. Pages are written in the HyperText
Markup Language (HTML). HTML is text with embedded codes (tags) that
represent instructions for the display of the text and any images.
Search Engines
SEARCH
ENGINE is a program that
searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the
documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is
really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically
describe systems
like Alta Vista
and Excite
that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web
and USENET newsgroups
A search
engine like google can be used to look for other search engines. You can call
and use google by typing the google address at the URL www.google.com
The Use of Address bar
In the Internet Explorer Address bar, type Find,
Go, or ? followed by a keyword, website name, or phrase, and then
press ENTER. If you want the search results to display in a new tab, press
ALT+ENTER after typing the phrase
Use
more than one search provider
If you don't find what you're looking for with
a particular search provider, you can search using a different one. You can use
the Internet Explorer search box to add additional search providers and then
switch among them to improve your search results. In Internet Explorer 8 you
can quickly change which search provider to use on a search by clicking the
provider's icon below the search box. For Internet Explorer 7, click the arrow
next to the search box, and then click a provider.
Search more efficiently
Here are a few ideas for improving the results
of searches:
·
Use specific words
rather than generic categories. For example, instead of searching for
"dogs," search for a specific breed of dog.
·
Use quotation marks to
search for specific phrases. Surrounding terms with quotation marks limits the
search results to only those webpages that contain the exact phrase you've
specified. Without the quotation marks, the results will include any page that
contains the words you've used, regardless of what order those words are in.
·
Use the minus (-) sign
before a keyword to tell search providers to exclude pages with that term.
Using a minus sign will retrieve webpages that don't include the word. It's
important not to include any spaces between the signs and the search terms (for
example, -Bogart, not - Bogart).
·
Eliminate common words
such as "a," "my," or "the," unless you're
looking for a specific title. If the word is part of something you're looking
for (a song title, for example), include the common word and surround the
phrase with quotation marks.
·
Use synonyms or alternative
search terms. Be creative or use a thesaurus for ideas. Type thesaurus
in the search box to find an online thesaurus.
·
Search only a specific
website or domain. To narrow the search to a specific site, type the search
term you're looking for followed by site: and the address of the website
you want to search. For example, to search the Microsoft website for
information about viruses, type virus site:www.microsoft.com (with no
spaces between site: and the URL).
·
Use a specialty search
engine or provider, such as an image search, to look for pictures. Many
websites offer their own special searches for anything from shopping to
hobbies. Internet Explorer can detect specialty search providers on some
websites, which you can add to your list of search providers.
Find words or phrases on a page
Once you've found a webpage that seems like
what you're looking for, Internet Explorer can help you find a specific word or
phrase. Here's how:
To find a word or phrase on a
webpage in Internet Explorer 8
1.
From a webpage, press
CTRL+F to open the Find box below the tab row.
2.
Type a word or phrase,
and then press ENTER to scroll to the first match.
3.
Click the Highlight
All Matches button to show or hide all matches on the page.
4.
To filter the matches,
press Options, and then click one or both of the following:
·
Match
Whole Word Only.
·
Match
Case.
5. Click Next or Previous to move
from one matched word or phrase to another.
To find a word or phrase on a
webpage in Internet Explorer 7
1.
From a webpage, press
CTRL+F to open the Find dialog box.
2.
Type a word or phrase
in the Find box, and then press ENTER to scroll to the first match on the page.
3.
To filter the matches,
select or clear the Match whole word only or Match case check
box.
4. Click Next or Previous to move
from one matched word or phrase to another.
