Reviewer for First Quarter Exam 2010-2011

Web Development 1 – csci02

Summary of Lessons:

 Materials on the Internet can be located using three major resources: the subject
directory, the search engine, and the deep Web.

 A subject directory is a service that offers a collection of links to Internet resources

submitted by site creators or evaluators. These resources are organized into subject
categories. The two basic types of directories are: (1) academic and professional
directories, and (2) commercial directories and portals.

 Examples of academic and professional directories are the following: AcademicInfo;

AllLearn: Academic Directories; Brint.com; Encyclopaedia Britannica; BUBL LINK/5:15;
and INFOMINE.

 Examples of commercial directories and portals are the following: About; Google
Directory; JoeAnt; JumpCity; LookSmart; Netscape.com; Search Beat; and Yahoo!

 A search engine is a searchable database of Internet files collected by a computer

program. The three components of a search engine are: the spider, the index, and the
search engine mechanism. Examples of search engines are the following: AlltheWeb;
AltaVista; Google; Ask Jeeves; HotBot; Lycos; and MSN Search.

 Meta search engines are search engines that retrieve collated results from other search
engines. These engines return a limited number of entries with duplicates removed.

 Meta search engines simultaneously search multiple search engines. They are useful
when: (1) you have an obscure topic, (2) you are not having luck finding anything when
you search, (3) your search is not complex, and (4) you want to retrieve a relatively
small number of relevant results.

 Examples of meta search engines are the following: Dogpile; GenieKnows; iBoogie;
InfoGrid; MetaCrawler; Pandia Search Central; and SurfWax.

 The deep Web consists of information stored in searchable databases mounted on the
Web. Information stored in these databases is accessible by user query. The deep Web
also consists of multimedia and image files, and files created in nonstandard file types
such as Portable Document Format (PDF). AltaVista, Excite, HotBot and Lycos are some
search services that offer separate search options for locating PDF files.
InvisibleWeb.com is a website that specializes in collecting links to databases found on

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 Reviewer for First Quarter Exam 2010-2011
Web Development 1 – csci02

the Web. The deep Web is therefore useful for searching non-textual information, such
as pictures and video clips.

Search Strategies

If you have too many search results, or results that are not relevant:

1. Add concept words and phrases

2. Use vocabulary that is specific to your topic (i.e., Hershey’s rather than chocolate)
3. Link appropriate terms with the Boolean AND (+) so that each term is required to
appear in the record
4. Use the Boolean NOT to keep out records containing terms you do not want

If you have too few search results:

1. Drop off the least important concept(s) to broaden your subject

2. Use more general vocabulary
3. Add alternate terms or spellings for individual concepts and connect with the
Boolean OR

Meta Search engines simultaneously search multiple search engines. They are also
referred to as parallel search engines, multithreaded search engines, or mega search
engines. These are useful when:

1. You have an obscure topic

2. You are not having luck finding anything when you search
3. Your search is not complex
4. You want to retrieve a relatively small number of relevant results.

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