Web search engines and me
Table of Contents
| DATA COLLECTION | PRIOR GENERATIONAL REPORTS |
| CONCLUSION | BOTTOM OF PAGE |
Aloha and welcome to my report 2 on Web Search Engines. Let me familiarize you with what's in store. Above, there is a link to the instructions for my report 2 and if you want to just skip to the bottom, a table of contents is there for your convenience. First of all, In my report you will find a data collection of 5 topics with two different search engines. The two search engines are Alta Vista and Yahoo. Here you will find many of my reactions to both of them and a data table that has the ratings of each search experience. Maybe it will give you some insights into my search experience. You may have a similar experience or you may not. To find out, just read what I have in store. It will only take a moment of your time. So have fun and Take Care!
DATA COLLECTION
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET
on GOLF TIPS with YAHOO search engine
1. Day,date,location.
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 1997 at home.
2. My mood or affective state.
I felt very bored and tired.
3. Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
Yahoo- I've used it quite a number of times before. So far, I like it because it categorizes your search topics giving you an organized appearance. However, I'll need to do more searching to see if this search engine is good.
4. Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I chose to search for Golf Tips because I'm interested in improving my golf game so that I don't waste anymore money each time I play this game. (make any sense?)
5.Number of expected hits or results.
I expected 1000 hits on this topic.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 61
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Wow, was I off or what! I guess Yahoo is very picky when it comes to certain search topics. What I mean to say is that there should have been more hits than 61. The only way to find out is through another search engine. We'll find that out on my next search.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
Some of the files were not available. It showed me "File Not Found." I found some very interesting web pages and I actually copied and bookmarked some of them.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
During my search I felt very impatient. My dull mood played a factor causing me to be frustrated. The good thing about it though is that there were only 61 hits. If there were 1000, I think I'd go nuts and punch my computer screen. I tried to also use the instructions but it still didn't help because it still allowed me to view 61 hits.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on GOLF TIPS with ALTA VISTA search engine
1.Day,date,location.
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 1997 at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I still felt very bored and tired.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
Alta Vista - I've used it quite a number of times before. So far, I like it because gives you a wide range of hits or sites for you to choose from. It has more hits than Yahoo but the only disadvantage is that it's mostly useless depending on what you're looking for.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
Golf Tips. I did not use Boolean operators because I felt I didn't need to.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 5,253,627.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Wow, was I off or what! Now this is what you call an outstanding search engine. Although it's a lot, at least you have the option to chose which ones you want.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
There were lots of links to chose from. I found one that was relevant to my search called Golf Tips. I went through each website on the first three pages of the search engine and found what I was looking for. I stopped there because there was so much with so little time.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
I was a little impatient however I was amused at the amount of information I could find. I was under the impression that there was a lot of information to be found in that if I needed to find more I would use this search engine. I did not use the search engine instructions because I found what I was looking for.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
1.Day,date,location.
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 1997 at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I feel kind of sleepy.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I'm using Yahoo and I've just used it earlier. I hope that it will do a better job than it did on my previous Golf Tips search.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Ronald Reagan. I chose this topic because I'm working on a position paper for my AS 351 leadership and management class. I need information on his leadership and management style.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded was 18 hits.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
What in the world is going on! I found that Yahoo limits the amount of sites or hits. However they categorize their information. I don't know about you but I'm finding Yahoo to be a bit unuseful. Maybe I need to start changing this search to another search engine. That's a bit weird to actually get only 18 hits when I projected about a 1000.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
Most of the hits were not relevant to what I was looking for such as his leadership style and especially his management style. I looked at all 18 of them and found the majority of them to be about his life history and some of them were full of pictures. Not quite what I'm looking for.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
My mood did influence my searching because my attention was not fully focused on the subject matter at hand. I sort of felt like I was running out of time. The topic did not influence my search strategy and I did not bother to use the search engine instructions because I'd rather use the instructions for Alta Vista.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on Ronald Reagan with ALTA VISTA search engine
1.Day,date,location.
1. Thursday, Oct. 30, 1997 at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I feel a bit energetic.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I'm using Alta Vista.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
Ronald Reagan. I did not use Boolean operators because I didn't need to.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 355,953.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Wow! Once again my expectations fell short. How might I be able to explain this phenomenon. There are so much hits but they only give you a certain amount of them. I mean that's a lot of hits. In a way, how could one view all those hits. There are just too many of them.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
Although there were more websites, I still could relevant information for my position paper. I randomly clicked on different sites and found that most of them leads you to same place. They are some how interconnected with links and links. Just like a big maze that leads you to the same place.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructions? Why?
I felt very satisfied because there were some information useful to my paper. My mood definitely influenced my search strategy because I was more patient and eager to explore all the relevant sites. I did not use the search engine instructions because I did not have trouble finding any information on my topic.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on FIGHTER PILOTS with YAHOO search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 2, 1997 at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I felt a little grouchy because I just got up from afternoon nap.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I used Yahoo.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Fighter Pilots. I chose this word because I'm interested in becoming a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force. I did not use Boolean operators because I didn't need to.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 24.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
I over extimated the total hits once again. I think I should understand that Yahoo does not give you a lot of hits. I guess that's why there is a link on their page that leads you to Alta Vista. I think they know that Alta Vista has it all. I thought there was going to be more hits because there are a lot of fighter pilots out there. I'm in shock. I'm tempted to click on the Alta Vista link but I can't because I'm supposed to react to this Yahoo search engine. My reaction is simple, "There is nothing Yahoo about Yahoo!"
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
There were limited relevant hits to my search. The good thing about this search engine is that it has a listing of other search engines on the bottom giving you other means of searching. I searched some of the hits and found just a few relevant and interesting sites. But low and behold, I'm not satisfied with it. I need more and more.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
I felt pretty good. My mood somewhat inflluenced my search. It helped me to be patient while I checked some of the hits. My topic did influence my search at all. I tried to use the search engine insructions by clicking on some of the help features but it turned out to be useless.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on FIGHTER PILOTS with ALTA VISTA search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 2, 1997, Sunday at Home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I actually felt a little buzzed because I popped a bottle of beer just 5 minutes ago.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I used my favorite Alta Vista again.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
Fighter Pilots.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 165,272.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Now, I either over estimate or I under estimate. And it's funny because I over estimate Yahoos' hits and I under estimate Alta Vistas' hits. I am very happy to see that there are more web sites than I thought.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
There were a lot of hits however some of them were irrelevant. About one third of the 20 hits that I checked were irrelevant.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructions? Why?
I felt tired after I searched through those twenty hits. My mood did not help my search in any way, nor did my topic. I made use of the search engine instructions though and found that it still gave me the same results.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on MUSCLE AND FITNESS with YAHOO search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 4, 1997, Tuesday at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I felt happy and content.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I used Yahoo.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Muscle and Fitness with the Boolean and. I chose this topic because my hobbies include lifting weights and staying physically fit.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
34 actual hits.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
I did it again. I over estimated. I think there are more sites to be found on the Internet. Yahoo is just holding out and letting you have just a small portion. And the bad part of it is that they are irrelevant to your search.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
Here I found a limited portion of relevant hits. I liked what was available, however, there were not a lot of information on other muscle magazines and articles about physical fitness.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
I felt unsatisfied. My mood helped me to stay and search each hit on Yahoo. If I was in a bad mood I think I would have left and use Alta Vista. Anyway I think that's what I'm going to do right now. Move on! I did not use the search engine instructions because I felt it wasn't necessary.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on MUSCLE AND FITNESS with ALTA VISTA search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 4, 1997, Tuesday at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I'm still happy, just a little irritated by Yahoo.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I'm using my all-time favorite Alta Vista.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Muscle and Fitness again.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 555,631.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Now this is what I'm looking for. More hits. I didn't do too bad on my estimation. I feel that anything to do with fitness can be found on the Internet and that the information is limitless.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
Many of the hits were relevant to my search because it gave me what I was looking for which was the magazine called Muscle & Fitness. I also found some interesting articles on how to do correct sit-ups which I found useful. The amount information was a lot for me to cover in just one night so I bookmarked some of the relevant sites.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
I felt completely satisfied. My mood enhanced my searching by making it easier for me to enjoy. The topic didn't influence my search. I was able to find information without the use of the search engine instructions.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on HOLIDAY SAFETY with YAHOO search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 7, 1997, Friday at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I felt a little tired but mostly full from eating a big dinner.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I used Yahoo for the 5th and final time during this report.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Holiday Safety because I am in charge of safety at my ROTC Detachment. I'm a Safety Officer who must give monthly briefings and maintain the safety board once a month. I'm looking for any information about safety regarding the holidays so that I have something to put up on the safety board.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 13
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Close but no cigar. I almost got it right on. I knew there were not a lot of information to begin with.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
There were no relevant hits what-so-ever. Most of the hits were about halloween safety. I was looking more towards the winter holidays. However, some of the hits were interesting. I think I could use some of these articles for future safety information. I found out that I used a topic that was to broad because most of my hits were primarily about safety.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructions? Why?
I felt disappointed. My mood and the topic did not influence my search. I tried to use the search engine instructions and I also retyped my topic to Winter Safety. Do you want to know what I got? Nothing.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
SEARCH REPORT DATA SHEET on HOLIDAY SAFETY with ALTA VISTA search engine
1.Day,date,location.
November 7, 1997, Friday at home.
2.My mood or affective state.
I did not feel full anymore but I felt tired because it was getting late.
3.Name of search engine and # of times I've used it before and whether I like it or not and why.
I used the infamous Alta Vista.
4.Search statement I typed in exactly and why I chose those words.Did I use Boolean operators why not or why yes.
I typed in Holiday Safety.
5.Number of expected hits or results.
6.Number of hits actually gotten.
The number of hits actually recorded
was 2,048,205.
7.My reaction to 5/6.
Two million hits! They only allowed me to view a quarter of that amount. I was right about using this topic because it is too broad. I have feeling that Alta Vista somehow searched every page that contained the words safety and holiday. It makes you wonder why most of those hits are not available for you to see.
8.My evaluation of the hits: what proportion were relevant and how I found this out.
There were more hits to chose from. I actually clicked on 10 hits that were relevant and about 15 hits that were not. Of those 10 hits I printed and copied some of the articles and illustrations about holiday safety.
9.How I felt about it. Did your mood influence how you searched or browsed? Did the topic influence your search strategy? Did you make use of search engine instructrions? Why?
I felt satisfied because I was able to gather some relevant information for my safety board. My mood sort of influenced my search by limiting my time on the computer because I was a bit tired. I know there would be more safety information that I could use but I'll save that for another time. As you can see, there are limitless information on the Internet for you to cover in just one sitting. So it must be carefully searched and to my experience Alta Vista helped me a lot. I did not use the search engine information because I found some of the information I was looking for.
10.Give these quantitative ratings of the search experience.
A) The first report 3 I stumbled on was Ginger Andrews. Ginger says that future generations will be spoiled because she talks about how easier it is for them do research on the Internet than it is to go to the library. Also, she lists the major search engines like Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite, and Infoseek. She suggests that you look up the tips information on each search engine because they are continuously updating their system. She mentions in the beginning of her report about Damon robots and how they play a major part in the retrieval of documents. Like me, she likes Alta Vista the best and dislikes Yahoo with a passion. One the problems she had was with the Yahoo search engine. She states that Yahoo only uses approved categories, not keywords like most search engines. With this complication, she gives an example of why Dr. James articles on Traffic Psychology is not found with Yahoo search engine because it is not a predesignated category. How does she handle this? Simple, Ginger just uses another search engine, preferably her favorite which is Alta Vista or Excite. As you can see, you are not limited to just one search engine but to many others that can offer you different types of searches.
Next, I consulted Jami's Report 3 and found a general definition of a search engine. She compares it to a library system like a card catalog or a UH Carl but she thinks a search engine is much easier and faster to use. One of the problems she had was the fact that it was taking long for her to get into net search. She says that by using search engines, it may take a while for you to find the actual resource you're looking for. The other problem she had was when she was searching for her research topic with Yahoo and the screen said "please use a non-empty search screen." She tried again and typed in her keyword "inclusion." This time it worked and she found the majority of her findings relevant to her topic. However, she stated, "The results were listed by the categories that they came from in the index and I thought that was unnecessary." This shows that Yahoo is effective for some people depending on what they're looking for. Jamie handled her problems by finding and utilizing a web page that shows you how to get the most of your searches and to which search engine to use.
The third report I looked at was Carol Ohta's. She enjoys search engines over the library just like the two previous students I've mentioned above because she says it's much easier and it's more updated than the library. I'll have to disagree with her on that one because actually the library has updated materials and it doesn't hurt to stick to the old fashion way of searching for information. She is very concerned about her readers well being because she states, "My main concern to you is hoping that you don't give up when things don't go your way." She gives a brief experience with a search engine in the CLIC lab. She also felt frustrated and she wanted to just quit. Luckily with the help of her lab monitor friend, she said she would have thrown something at the computer and leave. Carol had a problem with searching. The searches were not leading her anywhere and it just lead her in the wrong direction. What I see is a problem of impatience. Fortunately, she corrects this problem with the help of her friend. She brainstorms first on a piece of paper and then she starts her search. It worked, it saved her from being angry and frustrated.
B) With the data I collected in my Report 2, I have found some interesting similarities to Gingers' problems. For example, I found that Yahoo limits its search because each document must be categorized and approved so you are only entitled to view those type of documents. With Yahoo, she had a problem with finding Jellyfish pictures. Like me, she left Yahoo and started to use other search engines. My data I collected supports her view on how limited Yahoo search engine is and that Alta Vista gives you a wide range of documents that is relevant to the keywords you type in.
Jamie's experience with her search were similar to my searching experience because she found documents that were most useful and relevant to her topics. Like me, there wasn't much complications with her search experience as she implied, "On the most part, I thought my practice with search engines went very well. I found information that I was looking for and didn't run into major complications." The data I collected does support her view on the Yahoo search engine. For example she says that Yahoo is the best search engine to use while looking up general categories and topics. This is true as I found out while I search my topics with Yahoo. But I still don't like it and it will never be my favorite search engine. I'll use it all right because I'm not tunnel vision but it won't be my favorite.
I found Carol's report somewhat funny and I
can relate to her angry behavior because I've experienced her situation
before when things didn't go my way. The data I collected did not support
her view of Yahoo because I guess the topics she had were more available
on Yahoo while I had a harder time finding relevant hits for my topics.
A) I gained an interesting perspective on the use of search engines. I am amazed how the search engines progressed from a year ago till now. There are so much updated information that the search engines must look for and it is imperative to have special tools that help you to use a search engine with greater ease. Each year these search engines are improving to become easier and efficient so that people like us can live a search without the negative feelings involved.
B) For you future generations, I suggest you take a look at my top 5 search engine tips
Top five
1. Don't use Yahoo unless you really know what you're looking for.
2. By now you won't be worrying about lengthy download times: SO
BE PATIENT-IT PAYS!
3. Search your topics with more than one search engine. It's better to
have more.
4. Make sure you're in a good mood before you start searching.
Chances are you'll end up destroying your computer.
5. Don't limit yourself. Explore. Search beyond the boundaries.
Don't let Dr. James intimidate
you. Take my words-you'll know.
