Finding Information
	Searching the Web

NOTE: This OWL is about searching the "open" Web, which includes information posted for unrestricted use. There is also a dimension of the Web that is "invisible" or "hidden," or "deep." This includes information that cannot be found by search engines and is not listed in Web directories. One reason information is hidden in this way is that it has restrictions on access, such as most of our online databases, discussed in another section of this OWL. Another reason information may be "deep" in the Web is that you must perform a search at the site to retrieve it, as you would to find comparative hotel room price data at one of the travel sites, for example.

The World Wide Web is part of the Internet, a decentralized, global network of computers. The Internet began during the Cold War as a means of enabling computers to stay in communication in the event of a nuclear attack. For more information on the Internet, these sites are recommended:

• Hobbes' Internet Timeline, one of the best brief histories, with links to key documents.
• Internet Society's List of Links for Internet Histories has a link to Hobbes' Timeline and a number of other high quality sites.

The World Wide Web is a hypertext information system that became generally available in the mid-1990s. It was originally developed in Switzerland for researchers in high-energy particle physics. The Web links Internet documents and allows users to jump quickly from one source to another. Documents on the Web can include text, sound, video, or images. Learning to search the Web effectively has become an important research skill. Evaluating information found on the Web is also vital to meaningful research. Evaluating research sources is discussed in OWL 5.

There are two different ways to look for useful Websites. One way to is rely on directories, and the other is to use search engines. Here is a comparison chart summarizing the main features of each.

Directories are lists of Websites arranged by subject. They are created by people who review the sites, decide if they are worth linking to, and choose which subjects to list them under. Directories are selective in what they list, which means that they offer fewer sites than search engines do. Some directories apply quality control to the sites they list; others use criteria besides quality, such as size, to decide which sites to list. Some directories have a rating or ranking system that is explained at their site.

Directories are easy to use because you can browse through the categories. Though this can be tedious, it solves some of the search vocabulary problems discussed in OWL 4. Most directories have a site search feature, which can help you zero in on what you are looking for. Some directories have links to search engines, and the major search engines have directories on their homepages, compiled and categorized by human editors. If you are new to the Web or just want to find some good sites on a subject, a directory is probably your best place to start.

Many of the Research Guides on the HSU Library homepage include very selective directories created by librarians at HSU specifically for our students.

Here are some recommended directories:

• About
• Free Internet Encyclopedia
• Infomine
• Internet Public Library
• Librarians' Index to the Internet
• Yahoo

Search engines are computer programs. They use programs called "spiders" or "robots" to find sites on the Web and store all the significant words on each page in the search engine database. When you perform a search using a search engine, you are not searching the entire Web, but only the database that the engine's spiders have created. Because different search engines have different sites in their databases, you will get different results from the same search if you run it in more than one search engine. Sometimes this is a good idea. An easy way to do it is to use a meta index, which searches the databases of more than one engine at a time.

Search engines can find a word or phrase anywhere on a Webpage, so they are more sensitive and flexible than the category-based directories. When you are looking for a very specific piece of information on the Web or when directory categories don't fit your query, a search engine is what you need.

For help in deciding which search engines will best match your information need, check this chart on choosing the best search. Try out a few different search engines to see which you like best. Then focus on becoming knowledgeable in using that one. After you have become proficient with one search engine, it will be easier to become skilled with others.

Even with knowledgeable searching, search engines tend to retrieve a lot of results, and it is sometimes be difficult to find what you want. Results are ranked, but instead of relying on human judgement about quality, as the directories do, search engines use criteria built into the search engine program. The search engine's criteria may not be the same as yours.

There is also a commercial consideration. Entrepreneurs and companies often design their Webpages so that they will be ranked highly and display near the beginning of search engine results. Most search engines allow people to pay to have their pages listed near the beginning of a results display.

For more information on search engines and how to use them effectively, these sites are recommended:

• Internet Search Tools by Corryn Crosby-Muilenburg, one of the HSU librarians. This includes links to several major search engines, tutorials for many of them, and links to directories, meta-indexes, and sites with interesting information about the Internet.
• Search Engine Watch is one of the best sources for learning more about search engines. There are printable charts of Web Searching Tips, explanations of how different engines work, news about developments in search engine technology, "fun stuff," and much more.