Using Search Engines
and Buying on the Web

  1. General Purpose Search Engines
    • General Searches - Yahoo, AltaVista, Google, Excite, Lycos, HotBot
    • Meta Search Engines - Mamma, DogPile
    • Using a Key Word: Detail versus Overall Concept
    • Simple Searches, Complex Searches, Using Categories
    • Force including or excluding: + and - , And, Or, Not
    • Terms: Spider, Hits
    • Examples: * Search for Python. Then exclude all "Monty"
      * Search for info on donating Motorolla cell phones
      * Search for the lyrics to the Beatles song "Let it Be"
      * Dogpile - Find web sites which have "chat rooms"
      * Google Search Options - Phonebook: , Stock: , Site:

  2. Special Purpose Search Engines
    • Switchboard.com - People Search
    • Mapquest.com - Maps, driving directions
    • Refdesk.com - My Virtual Reference Desk
    • Ipl.org/reading - Internet Public Library
    • imdb.com - Internet Movie Data Base
    • amazon.com, bn.com - online Bookstores
    • Examples: * People Search - Switchboard, Yahoo, Google - search for your name       * Maps - MapQuest, Mapit, Maps.yahoo.com - map of Miami
            * Internet Movie Database - imdb.com - Robert Redford

  3. Web Search vs Site Search vs Page Search
    • Web Search - use a search engine
    • Site Search - searches only that Site
    • Page Search - use Browser Menu - Edit-Find
    • Example: * Class Web Site - www.ualr.edu/gblane/

  4. Other options with Internet Explorer
    • Enter "Sears" and then Control-Enter
    • Page Setup and Printing
    • Saving a file or a picture

  5. Copyright Protection
    • Copyright: legal protection to a written or artistic work, giving the author exclusive rights to its use and reproduction, except as governed under the fair use exclusion.
    • Fair Use Doctrine extends to educational purposes, but you must "cite" - say where you got it.

  6. Purchasing Online
    • Look for URL's that start with https://
    • Look for a lock on the status bar
      • * Amazon.com - find the book on the History of Coffee
      * Ebay.com - find a used Dell Notebook (laptop) computer
      * Half.com - find a "Humidifier" for sale

  7. Other - Cookies, Adware, Spyware, Bugs