Search OSCAR using our server search engine:
Search OSCAR or the WWW using Google's SafeSearch:
Searching the ‘Net Effectively
Select a search engine
There are many individual search engines on the Internet. Selecting one is completely down to your own personal preferences. Some search engines split everything into subject categories, others search for keywords. Meta-searches search several different search engines at once. Rankings are also determined by different methods. Some measure the number of times the search word(s) is listed on pages. Some measure how many pages are linked to the target page or from the target page, or how many hits the page gets. Many are starting to offer 'sponsored link’ services which means that websites can pay to get a more prominent ranking.
OSCAR's personal preference is www.google.co.uk
Other popular UK based search engines include:
www.yahoo.co.uk
www.excite.co.uk
www.ask.co.uk
www.infouno.com (metasearch)
Formulate your request
It's worth getting to know your favourite search engine well and learning how to narrow down your searches to produce the most relevant search results (i.e. some allow you to search 'some' or 'all' of the words entered). The more specific your search keywords, the more accurate your results will be. For instance, if you type 'Christian’ and 'Mission’, it will search for all the documents that have the words 'Christian’ or 'Mission’ in them. If you type 'Christian AND Mission’, the search engine will look only for documents with the phrase 'Christian mission’ in them. This will narrow down your search considerably. (* AND or + can be used. In the case of Google, just use quotation marks around the phrase.)
Use this 4 step approach:
1. Formulate your question.
Example: How do I make Christmas Pudding?
2. Identify the important concepts within the question.
Example: making Christmas pudding
3. Identify search terms for these words, considering synonyms and variations.
Example: Christmas Pudding Recipe
4. Then type them in with any extra phrase instructions.
Example: 'Christmas+Pudding+Recipe’
Even though this example is simple, the same methodology can be applied to complex questions or requests.
Some search engines also have a 'safe' option that eliminates 'bad' content in the search results (i.e. offensive or pornographic sites).
Evaluate the results
Important considerations for evaluating information sources include:
Authorship
Who wrote the document?
Is there information about the author's qualifications or authority for writing about this topic?
What organisation provides the information?
Objectivity
What appears to be the purpose for publishing this information?
Does what you know about the organisation suggest a bias?
Accuracy and Currency
When was this document created or last updated?
Are there errors in spelling and/or grammar?
Can you spot any errors of fact?
Does the document list the sources of its information?
You can find out all you want to know about search engines (and much more!) at http://searchenginewatch.com or www.search-engine-index.co.uk