How to Be a
Good Online Learner

How do you use an Internet search engine?

While most of the Internet browsing you will do will be to websites contained within the course, you may find yourself wanting to supplement your information with other sources.  In this case, you will want to conduct an Internet search.

Search Engines

The Internet is a vast store of knowledge.  But just as with anything, too much of something can be overwhelming.  This is where search engines come in.  They help you to sort through all of the information to pin-point just what you want. 

How do search engines work?

Most search engines, like Yahoo! and Google, use the principle of keyword searching.  This is similar to how database programs such as Access function.  Others, like Ask Jeeves, use a natural language interface that allows you to ask it a question in ordinary language.

Some Popular Search Engines

Search Engine Techniques

Keywords are terms that are used by most search engines to find documents that are related.  Learning to use them effectively will make your Internet searching that much more efficient.  When using keywords to search remember these tips:

• Spelling does count.  A search engine can only find those keywords that match the word you entered.  As powerful as the Internet has become, it still can't read your mind.
  
  
• Use the plus (+) sign to make your search specific.  When typed just before a keyword, it indicates that it is a mandatory word that must be found in the search.  For instance, learning +adults would find entries that contained both learning and adults as well as entries that contained just adults, but not entries that contained just learning.
  
  
• Use the minus (-) sign to make your search specific.  If you want to exclude a word from your search, use the minus sign.  Place it just before (without any space) the word you want to exclude.  For example, learning -elementary would find entries that contained learning but didn't include elementary. 
  
  
  • It is important to be careful while using both the plus (+) and minus (-) signs.  If you make your search too specific, you may not find what you are looking for.
    
    
• Use wildcards to broaden your search.  Wildcard characters let you find variations of a word.  For instance, typing veterinar* will find entries that include both veterinary and veterinarian.  You may use wildcard characters (*) at any place within a word where variation may occur.  An example would be judg*ment which would bring up the American spelling of judgment and the British spelling of judgement.
  
  
• Use quotation marks to find phrases.  If you need to search for a specific phrase, enclose the phrase in quotation marks.  For example, typing "literacy issues" would find you sites that contained literacy issues as a phrase, but not sites that contained just literacy or just issues.  This is also a helpful tip when searching for names.