Smart Keyword Searching

Searching efficiently & effectively: Get the best results

quickly!
Just think! Every major search engine has information about
millions and millions of World Wide Web sites. At the click of a
button, a search engine sorts through what it "knows" and lists
the sites it "thinks" you want. In some ways, a search engine is
like a well-trained dog. It will fetch what you tell it to and only
that.
HOW MANY WORDS?
While single words are better commands for dogs, a balance between too few and too
many words is better for searching. Think of Goldilocks tasting the porridge!

Lets
do
some
explor
ation
before
we
look
for the
answer
!

A search for a single word may fetch a million sites. Obviously, its tough
and frustrating to check a million sites to find the best one for your needs.
*
Adding more words fetches fewer sites that are closer to what you need.
*
Adding too many words, such as an entire sentence orTHE
question, causes the
QUE
search engine to fetch sites with any or all of those words.
STIO
N

THE QUESTION: Is the element mercury toxic? Lets say your teacher tells you to find the
answer.

Choose a search engine: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, Dogpile, etc.

TYPE THE NAME OF THE SEARCH ENGINE YOURE USING:
Google

In your search engine, start by typing in

mercury and hitting the enter key.

TYPE THE NUMBER OF WEB PAGES THE SEARCH ENGINE RETRIEVED:

293,000,000
Look over the description of the first ten sites in the list.
TELL WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT BY LOOKING AT THE SITE TITLES & MINIDESCRIPTIONS:

By now you may realize that the word mercury has more than one meaning. Try adding
an additional key word to tell what it is about mercury that really interests you. Type in mercury
element.
TYPE THE NUMBER OF WEB PAGES THE SEARCH ENGINE RETRIEVED:

Look over the description of the first few sites in the list.
TELL WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT BY LOOKING AT THE SITE TITLES & MINIDESCRIPTIONS:

Although these sites might have the answer to your question, they might not. Now try adding a
third word. Type in mercury element toxic.
NUMBER OF WEB PAGES RETRIEVED:

Look over the description of the first few sites.

TELL WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT BY LOOKING AT THE SITE TITLES & MINIDESCRIPTIONS:

The question is on the frst page!

Now you are getting somewhere! By now all the sites retrieved should help answer
the question.
ANSWER THE QUESTION IN A COMPLETE SENTENCE:

How many results do you get using each of these search terms
Search terms
Results
ants
ants eggs
worker ants eggs
worker ants eggs
worker ants eggs k3
Looking at the Numbers - CONCLUSION
WRITE: Using sentences, compare the number and types of web results for your searches as they
relate to or connect with the search terms you used. In other words describe what you learned from
doing this assignment. What did you learn about using key words to search for information?