Search Engines such as Google are very useful to quickly find information. Too often however, even when using advanced searching techniques, there are too many web pages found. At other times not enough results are found.
There are specialty search engines available that can be used to limit the results, as well as advanced search operators for common search engines. In addition there are on-line libraries and directories that allow you to find information in different ways besides keyword searching. In this project you will learn to use some of these other resources.
A major problem with the Internet is that many web sites seem fine but often contain incorrect information or worse. As you answer these questions, try to find more than one website with the required information, and compare them. This isn't always possible but it is worth spending a few extra minutes trying to decide which sites are better or more accurate than others. Learning how to evaluate web sites is an important skill when finding information and avoiding illegal content or “malware” (viruses, spyware, etc.).
To evaluate a web site, you should compare its information with one or more (different) web sites. Of course that isn't possible in all cases. You can also check a site for information you already know to see if it correct. You can also check a website's reputation at mywot.com or Google Transparency Report. Finally you can use Google or another search engine to see if others have complained about some web site, say by its having spyware, bad data, or other problems.
Complete the following steps and submit your answers as follows.
resources.htm”.
Be sure to save as “Web page, HTML
only”, and not “Web page, Complete”
or any other type.
Student Name: replace these seven words with your name
resources.htm”).
When possible, make sure your answers are accurate by
evaluating the web sites you use.
resources.htm”.
resources.htm in your web browser and
make sure it displays your answers correctly.
(The page style will be plain but that is fine!)
If you note any problems, go back and edit the file to correct
them before uploading and submitting your project.
Google provides many advanced search operators, some of which are not well-known (some are undocumented). Some of these can greatly increase your search efficiency. In this part of the project, we will explore three of these.
Sometimes you want information from only one organization, but
normal search returns so many results that the one you want isn't
listed on the first few pages of results.
You can limit the search results to a single website or domain, using
“site:SomeDomainName”.
With normal searching, pages that contain the search terms anywhere in
the document are found.
Often, you can get much better search results by searching only for a
search term in a web page's title.
To ensure that any results have a search term in their titles, you can
use “intitle:term”,
for each term.
If you want all your search terms to be found in the title, use this
short-cut:
“allintitle: term term ...”.
Sometimes website are re-designed, and their web pages are put into
new locations.
Unless the new site was recently found by Google, any normal search may
find the old, incorrect URL instead of the new one.
In such cases, the web page itself often has its name unchanged, just
its location on the website.
You can use “inURL:term”
for this.
shell dollar-quoting bug report”.)
How many “hits” did you get?
site:austingroupbugs.net shell dollar-quoting
bug report”.)
How many “hits” did you get this time?
www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11533
(Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifier),
found using the search (without the quotes)
“site:microsoft.com md5 verification tool”.
2, using the search (without the quotes)
“allintitle: prof wayne pollock”
142,000,
using the search (without the quotes)
“prof wayne pollock” (Google does AND searches
by default).
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html,
found using the search (without the quotes)
“site:google.com google search reference”
Other URLs include
https://sites.google.com/site/gwebsearcheducation/advanced-operators
and https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/35890.
67, found using (without the quotes)
“site:hccfl.edu inURL:FAQ”.
For centuries there have been public libraries, which are huge repositories of public domain images, music, statistics, government reports, corporate data, books, magazines, and newspapers. Some of that material that is copyrighted and can't be used without permission, but much is freely available. And all this is a free service to citizens (in most of the world), supported by government funding.
Today much material is available on the web, but the majority of books and reports are still not available that way. A library can be used to locate and information available both on the web and off of it. Library indexes contain information about all the material in any library in the world, not just the books in that one library. Using a library you can locate some book or other data of interest and request the loan of those materials, which can be sent to your nearest branch for you to pick up.
Today most libraries provide their services through a web site. The purpose of this assignment is practice using the library to search for information.
URL: www.ipl.org/div/light/, Photographer: Donald W. Carter
No. (But there are such on-line books elsewhere, e.g., Scuba Diving Explained)
320.5/4, JC311.C32, X.709/20234, or ISBN-10 0-77-050971-1; 4 copies, closest appears to be at Barry University in Miami FL; Yes—a lot (but there appear to be multiple authors by that name).
By their very nature, websites can change often. Some people perceive this as one of the biggest problems on the World Wide Web today. One site, The Internet Archive, maintains a huge and growing database of old versions of websites.
Madonna, the singer
Scott Seekins, artist
Dan Parisi
Madonna Rehab Hospital
There are number of specialty search engines, used for more focused searching. By only searching for books, movies, people, laws, appliances, etc., you can use a simpler search than with a general search engine such as Google, and still end up with only relevant matches. (The trick is to know how to find these specialty search engines!)
What is the lowest cost to buy a brand-new (not used) paperback copy of the current edition of your class textbook available? Which store sells it (new, not used) the cheapest (non-member pricing) with a rating of 3 or more stars? (Do not list BestBookBuys.com or any search engine; only list an actual seller.)
Cheapest I found was at the Amazon marketplace, seller TEXTBOOKNOOK @ $37.53. Cheapest 4-star is the same.
Suppose you were in the market to buy a fancy home stereo system. What do most people think of the JBL line of bookshelf speakers, and where did you find that information?
“JBL Speaker - is an excellent choice”
You can use the search engines listed above, or search Twitter, Facebook,
or Reddit.
There are also reviews at Bizrate, Amazon, and elsewhere.
Do not simply judge by counting the number of stars! Many times, dozens, hundreds, or thousands of “fake” reviews are posted to inflate ratings, or to deflate competitor ratings. You must read the reviews to see if they appear fake or not. Fake reviews have little real content, and are usually short. Learn how to spot fake reviews!
Lookup the “JetPal Premium Classic Aviator UV400 Sunglasses with Options for Flash Mirror and Polarized Lens” product on Amazon.com, and read some of the reviews. What do you think of this product?
The product seems good, with many positive reviews.
Product link: Amazon.com/Premium-Classic-Aviator-Sunglasses-Polarized...
Now, copy the URL of that product (not the review page but the product itself) and check it out on FakeSpot.com. (FakeSpot.com which will analyze the reviews for any Amazon or Yelp product.) What is your opinion of the product now? Go back and check some of the reviews for both the sunglasses and the speakers. Were you able to find any fake reviews?
FakeSpot says over 80% of the 703 reviews are fake (as of November 14 2016).
I don't think much of the product now.
Link to FakeSpot.com review
Based on the bookmarks on delicious.com, what is a good website to locate “song lyrics”? What is the chorus to the song Louie Louie by the Kingsmen (to search, click next to “@wpollock”, and type in some search terms)?
From
www.LyricsOnDemand.com/onehitwonders/louielouielyrics.html
(“Official” Documentation:
www.TheSmokingGun.com/louie/louiereal1.html)
Louie Louie, oh no Me gotta go Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said Louie Louie, oh baby Me gotta go
In how many movies to date has Clint Eastwood appeared as an actor (and not just as a director)?
Clint Eastwood has been in at least 67 movies (but that includes two TV series and several uncredited appearances, so the exact number depends on how you count them). (Again, don't just trust the first site you find.) URL: www.imdb.com/name/nm0000142/
Copyright ©2017 by Wayne Pollock