Searching

Search Engine

Search engines are instruments for searching

Semantic Search Engines

Semantic search uses semantics, or the science of meaning in language, to produce highly relevant search results.

Specialty Search Engines

Specialty search engines have been developed to cater for the demands of niche areas.

Relevance

The condition of being connected to the topic. Is it related to your topic?

Source

The place where the author gets his/her information from.

Date

When was the website created, updated? Is the information outdated?

Web Browser

A program with a graphical user interface for displaying HTML files, used to navigate the World Wide Web.

Name Boolean Operators

AND + OR NOT - AND NOT " " ( )

CARDS

Acronym used to help with website evaluation. C CREDIBILITY A ACCURACY R RELEVANCE D DATE S SOURCE

Boolean Operator

Boolean Operators are simple words/ symbols used as conjunctions to combine or exclude keywords in a search, resulting in better results.

Boolean Search

Boolean searches allow you to combine words and phrases using Boolean operators to limit, broaden, or define a search.

Crawler or Spider Search Engine

Crawler-based search engines use automated software programs to survey and categorize web pages. The programs used by the search engines to access your web pages are called 'spiders', 'crawlers'.

Credibility

Credible sources are sources the reader can trust. Can you trust the author?

6 Different Types of Search Engines

Databases, Specialty Search Engines Directories, Hybrid Search Engine, Meta Search Engines, Crawler or Spider

Database

A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can be easily accessed, managed and updated.

Hybrid Search Engine

Hybrid search engines use a combination of both crawler-based results and directory results. More and more search engines these days are moving to a hybrid-based model. Examples of hybrid search engines are: Yahoo and Google

Accuracy

Information that is free from error or defect, and correct in all details. Any mistakes or errors?

Meta Search Engine

Meta search engines take the results from all the other search engines results, and combine them into one large listing. Examples of Meta search engines include: Metacrawler and Dogpile

Directory

On the World Wide Web, a directory is a subject guide, typically organized by major topics and subtopics. A 'directory' uses human editors who decide what category the site belongs to.