SCS 306: internet Computing

1. Define the term Internet

Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks that uses the standard Internet
Protocol Suite (TCPIP! to link se"eral billion de"ices worldwide.
#r it is a global interconnection of computer networks together with information and other
resources on it together with their users
$. %i"e reasons for networking
&hy 'etwork(
1. So that computers can share each others resources through the network
$. So that computers are able to share hardware resources. ) company doesn*t ha"e to
buy for each computer a printer+ scanner e.t.c through networking+ they will be able
to share one printer+ scanner e.t.c this helps in cutting down cost
,. 'etworked computers can retrie"e data from each other computers e.g. te-t files+
images+ "ideos. .ou can get them from the hard dri"e of another.
/. #ther importance*s are 0 it increase internal and e-ternal communications in the
organi1ation which increase producti"ity
2. Increase producti"ity and collaboration within the organi1ation. The ability to email+
call+ share documents+ and "ideo conference increases work producti"ity for
employees. Information+ orders+ assignments+ and ideas are able to tra"el fast.
,. Identify milestones in the e"olution of the Internet
In the year 1343 there was the birth of the internet+ In 1351 people started communicated o"er the
internet+ email was in"ented. In 135$ internet networking started and computers could connect
more freely and easily. In 135, global networking became a reality+ internet ideas started+ how
computers could recei"e an send data. In 135/ Packets became the mode of transfer. In 1355
6mails took off and internet became a reality+ 1353 'ews groups were born+ and in 1371 things
started to come together. 137$8 TCPIP defines future communication. 137/8 Domain 'ame Ser"er
(D'S! introduced.13758Commercialisation of Internet 9orn. 13318 :ost Important de"elopment to
date ;;&orld<&ide &eb (&&&! released . 133$8 :ultimedia changes the face of the Internet 133,8
The &&& =e"olution truly begins. 133/8 Commercialisation begins. 13328 =est of world
connected
4. Identify different areas of application of the Internet
The Internet has many important applications.
1. Communication: It is used for sending and recei"ing message from one and other through
internet by using electronic mail. Some of the web sites pro"iding this ser"ice are yahoomail.com
>otmail.com rediffmail.com etc
$. Job searches: %etting information regarding a"ailability of ?ob in different sectors and areas.
.ou can publish your resume in online for prospecti"e ?ob. 6.g. my?obs.com or
9righter:onday@enya.com
,. Finding boos and study material : 9ooks and other study material stored around the world
can be easily located through internet. Aatest encyclopaedias are a"ailable online.
/. !ealth and medicine: Internet pro"ide information and knowledge about field of health
medicine people can ha"e information about "arious disease and can recei"e help .patient can be
taken to "irtual check room where they can meet doctors. Some of the web sites pro"iding this
ser"ice are
2. "ra#el: #ne can use internet to gather information about "arious tourist place . it can be used for
booking >oliday tours + hotels+ train and flights. Some of the web sites pro"iding this ser"ice are
indiatra"elog.com+ ra?tra"el.com+ makemytrip.com. Checking online
4. 6ntertainment one can download ?okes+ songs mo"ies+ latest sports updates through internet
Some of the web sites pro"iding this ser"ice arecricinfo.com+ mo"ies.com espn.com + make cards
online+ get Buotes birthday+spiritual+ getwell wishes online
5. Shopping 8 Internet is also used for online shopping. 9y ?ust gi"ing accounts details you can
perform the transaction. .ou can e"en pay your bills and perform bank related transaction.
7. Stock market updates 8 .ou can sell or buy shares while sitting on computer through internet.
Se"eral websites like ndt"profit.com+ moneypore.com+ pro"ide information regarding in"estment
3.=esearch 8 ) large number of people are using internet for research purposes you can download
any kind information by using internet
1C. 9anking
11. Pay bills online
"opic $
To connect your computer to the internet+ you will need8
(i! To decide what type of internet connection you need
(ii! To choose the correct type of modem or router
(iii! )n account with an internet ser"ice pro"ider
(i"! )n internet browser
%ifferent types of internet connections
1. %ial up & This is where the computer is connected so that it calls you ISP through a
phone number. The modem is programmed with a phone number (pro"ided by the
ISP! and calls the ISP through the phone line to make a connection. )d"antages8 u
can connect to internet anywhere there*s a phone line+ many computers nowadays
come with inbuilt dial up modems. Disad"8 Its much slower+ u cant make call with
the line when online+ the longer u use it+ the more you pay.
$. %S' (%igital Subscriber 'ine) * for this kind of connection+ you will need either a
phone line or a wireless network to connect to your ISP. Its ad"8 During a phone call+
only a small part of the carrying potential of the copper cable that makes up the
phone line is actually used. .ou can also transmit a DSA signal using the phone line
without interfering with the phone calls along that line.
,. +%S' (+synchronous %igital Subscriber 'ine) * It,s a type of %S' connection
-here it manages the processes of recei"ing and sending data separately and has
different DdownloadE and DuploadE speeds. &hen u look at "ideos or listen to music
on internet u r downloading information and when u send emails or post something
on facebook+ u are uploading information. +%.: It has a faster connection+ u can
make calls e"en when on internet+ since )DSA is always on+ u do not need to
connect to the internet e"ery time u want to go online. %isad#: Its more e-pensi"e+ u
ha"e to buy an anti"irus to protect your computer+ its always on making it "ulnerable
to attacks+ ur connecti"ity speed depends on how far u r from you >F9+ u might not
get )DSA connection e"erywhere.
/. /obile 0hones1 They ha"e , %enerations that is the analag "oice ( 1
st
%eneration!+
digital "oice ( $
nd
generation! and Digital "oice and Data( ,
rd
%eneration!
3
rd
2eneration (%igital #oice and data) & It includes:
1. 2S/ is one of the most widespread standards. It stands for D%lobal System
for :obile CommunicationE+ and is part of the $% family. %S: controls
how your phone connects to the web. %S: was the first wireless protocol to
use digital radio transmissions. Its features are international roaming+ that
means u can use it anywhere in the world
$. 203S (%eneral Packet =adio Ser"ice! it*s halfway btw $% and ,% family.
Its an upgrade from %S: with a faster data rate+ it pro"ide uninterrupted
connection+ it made multimedia messages possible. &ith %P=S ur ISP is able
to charge amount of data transferred instead of time spent online.
,. 4dge ( 4nhanced %ata 2S/ 4n#ironment) 0 Its part of ,% family+ its an
ad"anced form of %P=S+ its faster and the best in watching online "ideos
2. 5+0 ( 5ireless +pplication 0rotocol)* 6"ery content is "iewable on a phone+ its
presented on the correct si1e of cellphone screen+ it can be Buickly downloaded+ it
can be na"igated easily on phone interface
4. 5i*Fi & ( 5ireless Fidelity) 0 It*s a system that allows wireless communication
between de"iced and the internet+ it uses radiowa"es to communicate instead of a
cable to connect to computer
5. Satellite 'o matter where you li"e+ you can probably get satellite Internet access.
There are two types of satellite access systems8
1. #ne<way system means you recei"e information direct from a satellite+ but
you send information (including the DreBuestsE for web pages and files
generated when you click &eb links! "ia a dial<up ISP.
$. Two<way system you send information back up to the satellite.
Its faster in both uploading and downloading+ they are cheaper nowadays+ its
problem is that it suffers from time delay making "ideo phone calls almost
impossible.
7. Cable 0 its mostly used to pro"ide cable TG. F can use internet and watch TG at the
same time+ its performance is much slower especially if many people are using it.
Co1 of sharing the network there can be security risksH they also limit ur indi"idual
bandwidth.
5hat is a modem6 ) modem is an electronic de"ice that acts as a translator between your
computer and the network infrastructure of the internet. It takes the information you wish to send
o"er the internet and changes it into a signal that can tra"el across a phone line or wireless network.
It also takes the information that your computer recei"es o"er the internet and translates it back into
a form that your computer can interpret.
"opic 3
1. %efine the term Internet bacbone* It refers to the principal data routes between large
interconnected networks in the internet.
$. 47plain the role of I0 address
IP )ddress8 Ior each computer to connect to the internet it must ha"e a uniBue address. The
address are in form of n.n.n.n. and must be a number between C<$22. The IP )ddresses are split
into two partsH
1. 'etwork ID which identifies the network containing a particular node (the
segments separated by dots!
$. >ost ID 0 It identifies the particular node in the segment 'etwork
Classification of I0 +ddresses * 3oles : To be able to assign different 'etwork ID*s to different
organi1ations+ to be able to define which parts of IP )ddresses refer to 'etwork ID and >ost ID+
different >ost and 'etwork IDs ha"e different lengths according to classification+ they are
classified because different organi1ations ha"e different si1es of networks.
1. Class ) IP )ddresses
1. addresses big numbers of hosts
$. )llows use of 1< 1$4 'etworks
,. Fses the first four IP numbers as 'etwork ID and the other
three as >ost ID
$. Class 898 I0 +ddresses
1. Ior medium to large numbers of hosts
$. )llows the use of 1$7<131 networks
,. Fses the first two numbers of the IP address for the 'etwork
ID and the other two for the >ost ID
3. Class 8C8 I0 +ddresses
1. Ior small company A)'s
$. )llows for 13$<$$, networksJ
,. Fses the first three IP numbers for the 'etwork ID and the
last IP number for the >ost ID
/. Therefore fewer hosts possible per network
4. Classes 8%8 and 848
1. Class KDK
1. 'ot allocated to hosts
$. Fsed for multicasting networks
$. Class K6K
1. =eser"ed for future IP e-pansion
3. 47plain the role of routers in communication
=outers are dedicated computers that are responsible for ensuring that data packets reach the
correct destination
"ia the most efficient route. ) router knows about its sub networks and identifies IP )ddress they
use+ then sends the right packet to the right address
4. 47plain the role of %:S on the internet
) it*s a Domain 'ame Ser"er that was created to assign meaningful names to computers on the
internet that are easy to share and remember e.g. www.ama1on.com. The D'S matches the domain
name in the address to the ser"er that the site is sa"ed on+ and sends the reBuest to the correct
destination. 6.g. it would match www.ama1on.com to the full address that the ama1on website is
sa"ed on.
;. Identify different components of a <3'
F=A (uniform resource locator! means the address of a website. In a F=A there isH
=). + 0rotocol8 (e.g. http8!This is the language the ser"er and your browser will communicate
with.
$! + !ost :ame8 e.g. www.microsoft.com. That*s the name of the ser"er that deli"ers to you the
>T:A documents you see through your 9rowser.
,! + Folder :ame8 The folder in which the document you see resides. 6.g. the te-t DmcspE is the
folder name.. If there is no folder name then the document is in the root folder.
/! + File :ame8 This is the name of the document you are "iewing. .ou probably recogni1e that
they usually end
in D.htmE or D.htmlE.
Communication protocols * This is the language the ser"er and your browser will communicate
with. They establish the way in which information will be sent and recei"ed. 6-amples are 8
1. >yperte-t Transfer Protocol (>TTP!+ which specifies how the communication between a web
browser and web ser"er should take place
$. Iile Transfer Protocol (ITP!+ which specifies how files should be transferred between computers
Client*ser#er architecture * The computers that make up the internet backbone are called ser"ers.
The other computers that are linked to the internet are called client computers.
Web Servers
o Dedicated computers that store files (web pages! and runs programs that can a"ail the files when
reBuested by web clients.
o They can ser"e more than one client at the same time.
o They wait precisely for the clients to initial dialogue.
Web Clients
o These are programs that web users use to initiate reBuest for internet ser"ice (information! and
also
display response of the reBuest. 6.g display a web page.
o They are also called web browsers.
o They include 8 :o1illa Iire Io-+ Internet 6-plorer+ Safari+ #pera etc
)nother way to describe the relationship between the client computer and the ser"er is to call
them the local :achine (the client! and the remote machine (the ser"er!.
The Client-Server Paradigm (computing.!
o The arrangement in which a network application waits for contact from another application
o The program that waits for contact is called the ser#er and program that initiates the contact is
known as the client
"opic 4 & is same as topic 3
"opic ;
=. %efine the term -eb bro-ser
It is a soft-are application designed to help you access information on the 5orld 5ide
5eb. It does the follo-ing roles1
1 1. )llow you to enter the F=A of the resource you wish to retrie"e from the internet
$ $. Send a message to a ser"er reBuesting that resource
, ,. )ccept the resource when the ser"er returns it
/ /. Translate the resource into a correctly laid out+ "iewable web page
$. State the strength of popular -eb bro-sers.
;.$ 0opular 9ro-sers
:ame %escription
1 1.
Internet
6-plorer
(I6!
=uns on windows only.
Internet 6-plorer is still one of the most widely used browsers+ primarily
because it comes pre<installed on most &indows PCs.
1 $.
:o1illa
Iire Io-
(II!
=uns on &indows+ :ac and Ainu- platforms.
Iirefo- is a "ery popular browser. It has a reputation for being secure and
reliable+ and users can add features to it by installing Dplug<insE or Dadd<
onsE.
It has a built<in %oogle search bo-+ customi1able address<bar searching+
e-cellent pri"acy tools and many other handy e-tras.
1 ,.
Safari Safari runs on &indows and :ac platforms.
Safari is a popular browser for :ac users+ as it comes installed as part of
the :ac operating system.
It has a reputation for speed+ elegance and ease of use.
1 /.
%oogle
%oogle Chrome runs on &indows and :ac platforms.
The new competitor to Iirefo-+ and Buickly growing in popularity. %oogle Chrome
has been designed for ease of use and simplicity.
1 2.
#pera
Chrome
#pera runs on &indows+ :ac and Ainu- platforms.
)n alternati"e that offers all the features of more popular browsers such as Iirefo-
and Internet 6-plorer.
3. Identify different elements of a gi#en bro-ser -indo-.
;.3 Features of a 9ro-ser 5indo- (Internet 47plorer)
Part %escription Part %escription
+ "itle bar8 Displays the name of the acti"e
&eb page and program.
F Fa#orite 9ar8 %i"es you one<click access to your
fa"orite &eb pages.
9 +ddress bar: Displays the Fniform
=esource Aocator (F=A!+ better known a
&eb address. Type an address to "isit a &eb
site.
2 Command 9ar8 Luick access to tools to
customi1e Internet 6-plorer.
C :a#igation buttons8 :o"e backforward
among &eb pages you ha"e browsed.
! "abbed bro-sing8 #pen up &eb pages in
separate tabs for faster+ more con"enient browsing.
% Search bo78 Type a word or phrase and
use a search engine to look for related &eb
sites.
I Status bar: Tells you if you*re connected to the
Internet and displays the progress the &eb site is
making in loading. )lso displays the security le"el
of the &eb site.
4 Search bo78 Type a word or phrase and
use a search engine to look for related &eb
sites.
J >oom: Moom in to increase the si1e of the &eb
page being "iewed+ or 1oom out to display more
items in the window.
4. "roubleshoot problems -hen a -eb page cannot be displayed.
There are se"eral reasons why you might not be able to access a web page. Symptoms include8
= =. File not found & 404
Symptom8 )n error message saying DIile not found 0 /C/ errorE+ or you get directed to another
page within the site in Buestion that tells you something like DThe page you reBuested cannot be
foundE.
Problem8 The host you are trying to access is responding+ but the specific webpage you are trying
to access isn*t there. It has probably been mo"ed or remo"ed.
Solution: If you typed the address in manually+ make sure you did it correctly 0 including upper<
case or lower<case letters.
= $. Ser#er not found
Symptom8 )n error message saying DThe ser"er cannot be foundE+ DThe page cannot be displayedE
or DD'S lookup errorE.
Problem8 Fnless you typed in the address incorrectly+ the website you*re trying to access probably
doesn*t e-ist or is temporarily una"ailable. The latter may be due to maintenance on the ser"er
where the site li"es+ or because too many people are trying to access it at once.
Solution8 Check the address+ and try adding or remo"ing the www part of the address (so try
roughguides.com instead of www.roughguides.com+ for e-ample!. If not+ try later 0 perhaps e"en
days later 0 and in the meantime search for a cache of the page.
= 3. 9lan -indo-
Symptom8 ) page or frame instantly comes up blank.
Problem8 .our browser hasn*t tried to fetch the page.
Solution8 >it D=efreshE.
If that doesn*t work+ reboot your browser and reenter the address.
Iailing that+ clear your Temporary Internet Iiles or cache.
= 4. + -ebpage -on,t load on a specific computer
Symptom8 .ou can reach a page on another computer but not your own.
Problem8 .our &indows >osts file could be the problem 0 especially if you*"e e"er installed any
browser acceleration software.
Solution8 %et rid of the offending acceleration program "ia D)dd=emo"eE in the &indows Control
Panel. Then locate the file called >osts within your hard dri"e (look within system,$Ndri"ersNetc!.
#pen it with 'otepad and remo"e any lines not starting with O e-cept for the local host entry. Sa"e
the file and e-it.
= ;. :ot authori?ed
Symptom8 )n error message saying8 D'ot authori1ed to "iew this pageE+ or words to that effect.
Problem8 Some sites+ or files within sites+ reBuire a password to be accessed+ or can only be
reached from certain systems+ such as from a company network.
Solution8 obtain the password legally. If it is a pri"ate company network+ log on from within the
company network.
;. Set criteria for choosing a -eb bro-ser.
5hen choosing a -eb bro-ser first you ha#e to consider the ind of operating system you
ha#e1
=. Safe and secure
It is possible for an unscrupulous person to gain access to your computer by taking ad"antage of
security loopholes in browser software.
There are no browsers that are completely immune to attack. The issue is which one is more
secure.
Some browsers offer thousands of plug<ins and add<ons to e-tend the usefulness of the software
0 others hardly offer any.
Fpdating your browser also impro"es its security features.
$. 0lug*ins and add*ons
DPlug<InE and D)dd<#nE< small downloadable programs that add functionality to a browser.
Some are essential and come preloaded with your browser. )n e-ample is the Ilash Player plug<
in+ without which the browser cannot display a website with Ilash content.
Plug<ins cater for many needs e.g. spell checking+ change the look of your browser+ check your
eyesight etc.
3. Special considerations
&hat will you be using your browser for( 6.g. there are e"en browsers that are created for
people with particular handicaps.
4. Speed
The speed of a browser may be in reference to8
1. Cold start8 The time the browser takes to open for the first time since the computer was started.
$. &arm start8 The time the browser takes to open again+ after it has been closed.
,. Content<rich page load8 The speed for loading a page with many images and "ideos.
2. Pa"aScript load8 The speed for loading Pa"aScript applications. :any interacti"e website
applications+ like internet banking+ run on Pa"aScript.
Factors that influence bro-ser speed
1. The speed of a browser will fluctuate depending on how well integrated it is with the operating
system
$. The number and type of plug<ins you ha"e added to your browser will also affect its speed.
"@0IC 6
=. <nderstand ho- search engines enable -eb search.
) search engine is a website that helps you find information from the web e.g. %oogle. They search
the web for commonly used terms+ the store the results of the search in an inde- + then a user can
use the search engine to search the inde-.
"ypes of search tools
1. Directories they are subject lists of Internet web pages, they are created by humans and are
arranged hierarchically by subject (as in arranged towards more specific topics).
Strengths:
i). very easy to use
ii). You need not know eactly what you are looking for in order to find something worthwhile.
iii). In the process of searching, you may discover other related topics that you may not been
aware of.
iv) !irectories are good starting points when you have a broad topic or are new to the internet.
"amples #
$ (i) %&' (etfind www.aol.com)netfind
* (ii) Yahoo+,www.yahoo.com
- (iii) Infoseek,www.infoseek.com
. (iv) 'ycos www. 'ycos.com
2. Search engines e.g. www.google.com
) search engine is a website that helps you find information from the web e.g. %oogle. They search
the web for commonly used terms+ the store the results of the search in an inde-+ then a user can use
the search engine to search the inde- . It does the following/
(i) %llows you to submit a form containing a 0uery that consists of a word or phrase describing the
specific information you are trying to locate on the 1eb.
(ii) 2earches its database to try to match your 0uery.
(iii) 3ollates and returns a list of clickable 45's containing presentations that match your 0uery/
the list is usually ordered, with the better matches appearing at the top.
(iv) 6ermits you to revise and resubmit a 0uery.
$ Internet search engines are good for 0uestions which are very specific.
* 2trength# it is possible to narrow search results further.
- 1eakness# not easy to use because you need to learn the 0uery language for the search
engine. 7he 0uery language varies from one search engine to another.
3. Metasearch Engines
% metasearch engine or all,in,one search engine, performs a search by calling on more than one
search engine to do the actual work. 7he results are collated, duplicate retrievals are eliminated,
and the results are ranked according to how well they match your 0uery. You are then presented
with a list of 45's.
7he advantage of a metasearch engine is that you can access a number of different search
engines with a single 0uery.
7he disadvantage is that you will often have a high noise,to,signal ratio/ that is, a lot of the
8matches9 will not be of interest to you.
:or very specific, hard,to,locate topics, metasearch engines can often be a good starting point.
"amples# ;etacrawler,www.metacrawler.com ,meta2earch,www.metasearch.com , metafind
www.metafind.com
4. White Pages
1hite pages provide you with an on,line mechanism for looking up information about individuals.
7hey can be used to track down telephone numbers, s,mail addresses, and e,mail addresses.
4sers can re0uest that information about them be put into a database for a given set of white
pages. "amples# <igfoot, four$$, whowhere.
How Search Engines Work (Comonents o! a search engine"
(i!. User Interface -7he user interface provides a mechanism by which a user can submit 0ueries
to the search engine. It also provides the screen onto which the results of the search are displayed
to the user. 7he user should be presented with a list of hits from their search, a relevancy score for
each hit, and a 8summary9 of each page that was matched. 7his way, the user can make an
informed choice as to which hyperlinks to follow.
(ii!. Searcher , 7he searcher is a program that uses the search engine=s inde and database to
see if any matches can be found for the 0uery.
(iii!. Evaluator
$ 7he searcher locates any 45's that match your 0uery. 7he hits retrieved by your 0uery
are called result set of the search. (ot all of the hits will match your 0uery e0ually well. 7hey vary
in the degree of relevancy.
* 7he ranking process is carried out by the evaluator, a program that assigns a relevancy
score to each page in the result set. 7he relevancy score is an indication of how well a given page
matched your 0uery.
- >ow is the relevancy score computed by the evaluator varies from search engine to
search engine. % number of different factors are involved and each one contributes a different
percentage (according to a weighing scheme) towards the overall ranking of a page. 2ome of the
factors typically considered are
. (a) >ow many times the words in the 0uery appear in the page.
? (b) 1hether or not the 0uery words appear in the title.
$ (c) 7he proimity of the 0uery words to the beginning of the page.
* (d) 1hether the 0uery words appear in the 3&(7"(7 attribute of the ;eta tag.
- (e) >ow many of the 0uery words appear in the document.
1 (i"!. Gatherer
2 % search engine obtains its information by using a gatherer, a program that traverses the
1eb and collects information about 1eb documents.
3 7he gatherer does not collect the information every time a 0uery is made. 5ather, the
gatherer is run at regular (short) intervals, and it returns information that is incorporated into the
search engine=s database and is indeed.
4 %lternate names for gatherer are bot, crawler, robot, spider and worm.
5 7o search the web for new pages, a gatherer may use breath,first,search or depth,first,
search search strategies.
1 ("!. Indexer
2 &nce the gatherer has retrieved information web pages, the information is put into a
database and indeed. 7he indeer function creates a set of keys that organises the data for
efficient search and 0uick retrieval of desired information.
#.4 How to Search
Creating an e!!ecti$e search %&er'
2earch engines base their search on the 8search 0uery9# the 0uestion that you type into the search
bar. 2earch engines like @oogle and <ing have comple algorithms according to which they match
search terms with keywords to return the most likely documents.
How to hrase a search %&er'
7here is a difference between asking a human being a 0uestion and constructing a search term for
a search engine. :or eample, consider the search 0uery 81hich lake in 5ussia has the clearest
waterA9 % conventional search engine will match that to documents containing the keywords 8lake9,
85ussia9, 8clearest9 and 8water9, which may result in useful results purely by accident or it may
not.
7he ability of a search engine to understand this kind of 0uestion is called its 8natural language9
ability. 7here is much controversy as to whether or not natural language search is better than the
sophisticated keyword algorithms used by search engines like @oogle and <ing.
In either case, the following guidelines will help you create more effective search 0ueries.
1. Short an( simle is )est
Beep your 0uery as short as possible, leaving out any unnecessary words. % single name or
keyword often works better than an entire sentence.
2. *e aware o! wor( or(er
2earch engines often use each subse0uent word in a 0uery to limit the search further. :or
eample, if you use the 0uery 8song bird9, the search engine could assume you want to look within
the subject of 8song9 for any mentions of 8bird9 you might find a page on the popular folk songs
about birds.
If you use the 0uery 8bird song9 the search engine will look within the subject of 8bird9 for any
mention of 8song9 which might give you pages on various birds and the sounds they make.
(otice that this means that the more words you use, the more focused the search will be, and the
fewer the results you will get.
3. Caitalisation (oes not matter
You will find the same pages whether or not you use capital letters. 2o searching for 8(ew York9
will yield the same results as searching for 8new york9 or 8("1
Y&5B9.
(ote that this does not apply to using 8<oolean operators9.
4. Choose 'o&r wor(s care!&ll' an( )e seci!ic
7he more precise the words you use, the closer your results will be. If your search term contains
only commonly used words, you are less likely to have success than if you are more specific. :or
eample, searching for 82outh %frican snake9 will have less success than searching for 8puff
adder9.
+. Sto wor(s
82top words9 are very common "nglish words that are automatically ecluded from searches by
the search engine. "amples include 8the9, 8and9, 8is9 and 8because9.
7hey are ecluded because they appear so fre0uently in normal language that including them
would give much less accurate final search results. 7herefore, instead of searching for 8the cat and
the dog9, you may just as well search for 8cat dog9.
Refining your search ith o!erators
7here are various tricks and techni0ues to help you find eactly what you are looking for. &ne of
the most useful of these is using operators as part of your search 0uery. &perators are symbols or
words that help to focus your search.
:or eample, the minus symbol 8,8 is an operator used to specify that a certain keyword should be
ecluded from the search.
1 M&st e,cl&(e
$ 7o limit a search so that it leaves out certain words, put the 8,9 in front of the word you
want the search engine to ignore.
* 7he eample below should give results about jaguars, but leave out all pages about the
Caguar car.
- It is important that you leave no space between the 8,9 sign and the word you want to
eclude.
2 M&st ha$e this e,act hrase
$ % typical search will find pages that include any or all of the words in the search 0uery,
even if they are in a different order or have other words between them.
* Including 0uotation marks around a phrase 8like this9 forces the search to return only
the eact phrase in your search 0uery.
- 7he eample below is more likely to return pages that refer to the song than pages that
happen to include the words 8twinkle9, 8little9 and 8star9 in any order.
3. -he ./01 is a *oolean oerator
$ ;ost searches will return pages with all the words in your search 0uery. You might want
to search for pages that include one of the terms or the other, but not both at the same time.
* 7o do this, use the word 8&59 in upper case between your search terms. 8&59 is a
<oolean operator.
$ 7he following will return pages about dogs, and pages about cats, but no pages in which
both dogs and cats are mentioned.
$ 7he search engine is reasonably good at grouping terms without your help, so the
following term will result in pages on either 8dog fighting9 or 8cat fighting9 and not pages on either
8fighting9 or 8cat9.
4. Search !or e,actl' this wor( an( not its s'non'ms
$ ;ost search engines automatically search for synonyms of your search 0uery. 2o, a
search for nutrition would return results for 8nutrition9 as well as 8diet9, 8food9 and 8nourishment9.
* 7o prevent this, include the 8D9 symbol just in front of the word.
$ You can achieve the same result by putting a single word in 0uotation marks.
+. Com)ining s'm)ols
$ You can combine any of the above symbols.
* :or eample, you are looking for information on the poem warning about the dangers of
poison ivy. You remember it contains the phrase 8leaves of three9. 1hen you do a search, you
keep finding information about the movie 86oison Ivy9 and a musician by the same name.
- 7o refine your search to eclude these, you might construct your 0uery like this#
-'es o! Search 2&eries
" #a$ %attern &atching 'ueries
* 7he most basic search 0uery.
- % 0uery consisting of a keyword or a group of keywords.
. 7he search engine returns the 45' of any page that contains these keywords.
1 #($ )oolean *ueries
* 7hey involve <oolean operators such as %(!, &5, (&7.
- "amples#
2 (i!. <otany 34D Eoology# Will return all pages (hits) that contain both botany and zoology.
3 (ii!. <otany /0 Eoology# Will return all pages that contain the keyword botany or zoology
or both.
4 (iii!. <otany 4/- Eoology# Will return all pages that contain botany and anything else but
not zoology.
(i"!. 8%pplied 2tatistics9# means the words must appear together, and in that order.
Search (omain
$ ;ost search engines provide fleibility in the scope (domain) of search. ".g. the web,
Internet, country etc.
* (arrowing the scope results in more efficient searches.
Search strategies
$ 1hen you post a 0uery to a search engine, two situations may occur, either your 0uery#
* (i!. does not turn sufficient number of hits
- (ii!. turns up too many hits
+oo ,e -its. Search Generalisation
F 1hen your 0uery returns too few hits or none at all, you need to generalise your 0uery.
$ @eneralisation strategies include#
* (i) If you used pattern matching 0uery, eliminate one of the more specific keywords from
your 0uery.
- (ii) If you used <oolean, remove the %(! or (&7 operator/ or one of the Beywords used.
$ (iii) If you restricted your search domain, enlarge it.
+oo &any -its. Search S!ecialisation
$ If your 0uery returns too many hits, you need eliminate some. 2earch specialisation
strategies include#
* (i) If you used pattern matching 0uery, add more keywords.
- (ii) If you used a <oolean 0uery, add more keywords and enjoin the keywords with %(!
operator, or introduce the (&7 operator. 1hen you rephrase your 0uery, many search engines let
you search the results of the original search, thereby refining the search.
. (iii) 3apitalise proper nouns
? (iv)5estrict your search domain
Using /eyords
$ You can also use a set of pre,defined keywords to send your search in the right
direction. 7here are many search keywords, but these are the most commonly used.
1. 5in( the (e!inition o! this wor(
$ 7o find any site that gives a definition of a word or phrase, include 8define#9 in front of
your 0uery.
2. Search onl' in seci!ic we)site
$ 7o search only in a specific website, and not the entire 1orld 1ide 1eb, include the
term 8site#9 and the site=s domain name.
* 7he eample below will search only in the site irish,society.org.
3. Search n&m)er range
$ @oogle lets you search for a range of numbers which can be especially useful for
dates.
* 7o search a range of dates or numbers, get the search engine to consider the range by
specifying the lowest and the highest numbers, separated by three dots like this 8$G?9.
- You can also search for a range of prices, though this only works with the dollars sign.
. 7he eample below will return results about <ritish kings from the year $.FF all the way
to $?FF, including all the years in between.
$ @oogling# H$?GH-F 8snooker cue9 , finds pages containing the term 8snooker cue9 and
any price in the range H$?-F.
4. Wor(s m&st )e in the (oc&ment6s title
$ 7o find a page with a specific word in the title, include 8intitle#9 in front of that word.
* In the eample below, the search will return documents with 8:rench9 in the title, and
85evolution9 either in the title or elsewhere in the document.
+. 3ll wor(s m&st )e in the (oc&ment6s title
$ 7o find a page that has all the words in the search 0uery in its title, include the word
8allintitle#9 before your search 0uery.
* 7he eample below will result in a search for all documents with both the words 8:rench9
and 85evolution9 in their titles.
#. Search seci!ic !ile t'es
$ 7he command filetype# lets you specify that your search terms should appear in a
specific file, such as pdf format.
* 7he eample below would find pdf documents (likely to be more 8serious9 reports than
webpages) containing the terms 8climate9, 8change9 and 8statistics9.
7. 5in( linking ages
$ 'inks are usually one,way# you can see links from a page, but not links to a page. In
@oogle, though, you can find out.
* 7he eample below finds pages which have a link to the 5ough @uides= music
homepage.
link#www.roughguides.com)music)inde.html
8. Calc&lations 9 con$ersions
$ @oogle can also act as an ecellent calculator. It can cope with standard mathematical
functions such as I (multiply), ) (divide), D (add), , (subtract) and J (raise to the power) as well
as hundreds of units of measurement, from :ahrenheit to hectares.
* :or eample#
- (i!. @oogling#-.K?I-.**- (*.,L)M of (-KJ. , -) will give you the answer *?$,L.$.L?.
$ (ii!. @oogling# ?$ :ahrenheit in 3elsius/ will give you the answer $F.?? degrees 3elsius.