Search Engines
When you can't find what you're looking for from a subject guide, its probably
a good idea to try a keyword search on a search engine.
Search Engines simply work with the following procedure:
-
You give one or more keywords and boolean (logical) expressions (a seach
term) and activate the search.
-
The search engine goes through it's database based on your search
term and
-
After a while as a result it gives you a list of links with their descriptions
There are several different search engines out there, out of which one
will be described separately Altavista works in the following manner:
| 1. Enter your search term (boolean expression) |
salad and (tomato or cucumber) and (not lettuce) |
| 2. Give the ranking criteria |
tomato |
| 3. Give the possible date constraints |
From 1/Jan/95 To 31/Dec/96 |
| 4. To finish, click the Search button |
here
you can see the above search's results! |
|
If the results (list of links) is satisfactory in size (not too big and
not too small) you can surf through them. Note that in the results
you will often find outdated, or otherwise non-functional links.
Often its a good idea to alter your search term, especially if your
result includes thousands of links. Click the Refine
button and you can either include or rule out new terms from a list of
altavista recommended terms.
You will find more precise instructions and advice from Altavistas'
own help page.
Altavista-family
There are actually two different search engines in Altavista. The
simple search and the Advanced
Search that has been described above.
The difference between the two deals mainly with the fact that with
the Advanced Search the user can affect the ranking (display order) of
the results and give date/time constraints.
Other search engines
There are lots of other search services out there, here are links to a
couple