Searching the Web
Back to Sample Web Sites Think before You Search!			A search engine is a program you use to look for information on the World Wide Web. There are lots of different search engines, and each one has different characteristics. Some examples of search engines are: Yahoo!, AltaVista, and Excite. There is no such thing as a perfect search engine for every user. If you are just beginning your adventures on the Web, you will want to try some different search engines and determine the ones you find easiest to use and most productive. However, since each program makes different assumptions about what you want as a searcher, it is important to think about what you put in to a search engine, and to examine critically what it gives you back as the results of your search. Here are some points to keep in mind while you are searching for information on the Web:
Searching Tips			choose the words you search on very carefully. If you don't, you will get a lot of information that is not relevant to what you want. different search engines have different rules for exactly how to put in the words you are searching on. For example, in some programs, searching on panda bearwill find the word panda and the word bear in separate documents, while in others it will find the two words next to each other. To get what you want out of a search, pay close attention to the "syntax" or language rules of the search engine. A program like FindSpot can help you do this. Its use is explained below. all search engines do not order the results of your search in the same way. Each program has its own way of deciding what to put first, and usually their way of doing this is not made public. Some people believe that search engines always put the "best items" first, but this isn't always true. You have to look at the list of results and decide which items are relevant to you.
FindSpot If you went to this URL:			A good place to start your searching is called FindSpot.This web site provides coaching in the use of a variety of different search engines. It gives you tips on what you get if you put in certain words, and it even submits your search to the search engine for you. The URL of FindSpot is: http://www.findspot.com/#websearch After you get there, click on "Alta Vista" near the upper left hand corner of the screen (under the big word FINDSPOT), under "Basic Search."
Your screen would look like this:			As you can see, this table describes the "syntax" or proper language to use in the search engine called AltaVista. The first column of the table lists examples of words you might be searching for. The second column tells you what words to use in in your search. FindSpot provides you with similar tables for other search engines.
Searching Mini-Tutorial			Use FindSpot to develop your own mini tutorial or "trial run" in searching. Just type your search ideas into FindSpot, press the Search button, look at the results in the search engine you chose, and then return to FindSpot for coaching on how to try the search in a different way. Keep on doing this until you are comfortable with the search engine and understand the results it gives you.
Hands-on
			Try out FindSpot
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