"What are Web Search Engines?"



What are Web Search Engines to me? I have to say, search engines are an easier and faster way of achieving information that you are looking for. You need not use the library on these search engines. All you need to do is find a search engine you like or want to search a topic on and type in the topic you wish the computer to search for you. Poof, the search engine provides you a list of related topics.

If you find a site that you like, I recommend you write the address down on paper or put it into your Web Site. I enjoy search engines because I don't have to go to the library to get the information. All I need to do is print the documents I want or copy and paste the information on a word processor and print. I also found that the information provided through the search engines are more updated than if I get the information from the library system.

What's it like to use a Web search engine if you're inexperienced? Wow, so much too say and hard too explain or find the words to describe it. Gee, where do I start?! Lets see here, I guess I'll start with being lost and don't know what to search. Okay, when I got to a search engine called InfoSeek (Located in my Topical Index for Traffic Psychology, under Lori Morita's with in her link to search engine), I didn't know what to type in, so I typed Police Liaison (my research topic). Gave me a list of the first ten entries related to Police Liaison. I found that all the links that were listed didn't provide me with what I was looking for. I hit new search and typed Police Departments. Wow, the links were there and the annotations that were with every link provided me with the information I was looking for.

You see, if you get results from a search engine that don't pertain to what your looking for, don't give up, try another search relating to your topic. You'll also notice that not all search engines have the information that relates to your search. Just go out of that search engine and try another one. This has happened to me a couple of times.

My main concern to you is hoping that you don't give up when things don't go your way. You have to stick with what you got and go forward without giving into the temptation of quitting or giving up. Believe me, I've been there too when things weren't leading me anywhere. Hey, reminds me, if you come across multiple search engines that lead you in the wrong direction, I request you to quit the search engines and brainstorm on a piece of paper.

Hey, it works you know; that advice was given to me by a friend that saw me in CLIC Lab ready to throw something at the computer. By the way, he was one of the lab monitors. I was so frustrated that I hit him and told him to shut-up. But he said "nope," grabs a paper from my folder and asks me what I'm searching for. He writes it down and starts writing all these lines that lead to a thought that he had concerning the topic I was searching for. I just sat there looking at the paper and told him that everything he is writing down will lead me nowhere. What a hard head, he types in one of his ideas in a search engine and surprises me with a list of over a hundred entries. I guess I was so frustrated I just wanted to give up. If my friend wasn't a monitor that day, I would have just done that, give up.

It pays to know people, doesn't it? Anyway, I hope you find what you're looking for in the search engines that you choose. Good luck in your searches and remember:

"Anger itself is not wrong.
It depends on what makes us angry and what we do with our anger.
Too often we express our anger in selfish and harmful ways.
Use your anger to find constructive solutions rather than to add to the problem by tearing people [or things] down."
Anonymous.


"How Search Engines Work"

ALTA VISTA

What is an Alta Vista Search Engine? Alta Vista is a search engine that has the ability to restrict searches by date, to refine a search, to do simple keyword searches, and provides abstracts of "hits." It also contains a help document. Alta Vista searches the WWW and Usenet News, you need the select it from the search menu.

I found it helpful to do a search using the Alta Vista Advanced Query Interface because you can control your search by putting the information that you want it to search; including the dates. You can even do searches by phrases and quotes (using quotation marks around them). It does field searches as well. Perhaps, doing a Boolean Search in Alta Vista is helpful to you as well.

Don't get me wrong, but using simple word search is very limiting to me. If you want to get more out of your searches, perhaps, use the advanced query search in Alta Vista. I admit the advance query Search is better because it provides me with a better search result than if I did a simple query search. Try it out. Perhaps, you'll find advance query searches easier to use than simple query because the results are closer to what your searching for.

Alta Vista Search Engine Address http://www.altavista.digital.com.

WEBCRAWLER

What does a WebCrawler Search Engine do? It's best to use the plain WebCrawler and NOT advance search because your search results won't be so limited. WebCrawler is designed to contain all of the words that you type in. The higher the result will be listed first. WebCrawler does give results to some of the words that you typed in as well. But be warned, the best results of your search is listed at the top. WebCrawler is also designed to use plain English so you don't need to use technical words. WebCrawler does have Boolean search operators too.

WebCrawler Search Engine Site. Address is http://www.webcrawler.com.
YAHOO

What does the Yahoo Search Engine do? YAHOO! Doesn't this word by itself tell you it's fantastic! Ha Ha Ha... Just kidding. This search engine does has everything spelled out for you. Example, it has clickable links in interest areas. This site even provides you with other search engines and more specific things that Yahoo can do for you. I like this search engine because the searches are made easy and the hits I get are useful and I really think that Yahoo is a great name for this search engine. Whenever I get hits that are useful; don't laugh, okay. I end up saying YAHOO after I find the searches to be useful. HeeHeeHee!

To make your searches easier, Yahoo has this site where you can even control the past years to search from, display the list as big as you want by specifying the display list, and specifying your searches (Located at this site).

YAHOO! Search Engine. The address is http://www.yahoo.com.

Prior Generations:
What did prior generations think about the Web Search Engines? Francine Fukuda wrote about how she went into Lycos and clicked on the icons that took her to advertising clicks. This is one student that should have looked at other Search Engines instead of just sticking with Lycos. I think she needs to know how to use Search Engines like Lycos. She should have searched on how to use Lycos. I didn't know until I searched on how to use Lycos and I found that you shouldn't use simple word searches, you should use advanced search that is located under Enhance your search. That should give you a better result of the searches that you're looking for.

I get the feeling that a lot of people who tried the search engines and didn't like them, didn't really know how it worked and how to search on them. I for one was like that until I needed information for one of my researches for another class. I was determined to get updated material instead of the old information located in the library system. So I sat down on a computer for many hours trying to get some useful hits on my topic. I picked InfoSeek, from Lori Morita's Search Engines Index. I searched on my topic and got the hits I wanted. I didn't want to try any other search engines because I was afraid to try another search engine because InfoSeek is so easy to use for me.

But in this class, I needed to figure out how three other search engines work. I now use Yahoo, InfoSeek, and Alta Vista for my searches. I tend to stay away from the library system because the information I want is not located their. It's either gone, on hold for the whole semester or three months, the Library itself can't find it, and/or the journal and magazine is discontinued. I guess everything is becoming by way of computers these days. No longer the way of the old library system way. How sad to see the use of the library go, huh?


Discussion time about learning the search engines. I learned that advance searches are helpful in getting the hits or results that I want faster and easier. I learned that the WebCrawler is designed so you don't need to use technical words, one can use plain English to get results in this search engine. I like Yahoo and Alta Vista because you can control the searches.

I'm no longer afraid to use other search engines because I now have three search engines that I prefer to use, instead of only InfoSeek. The search engines has so many capabilities that I didn't know that they could do. For example, research by quotes and phrases, dates, and words.

However, one thing I got out of looking through each search engine, is that they all want to look and be better than the other search engines that are available. In my opinion, if they give me hits and results that provide me with what I'm looking for, it did it's job.

I enjoy searching the Web. I can go anywhere I wish to go. Poof, I'm there in no time. I can travel to places without getting on the airplane. However, I don't get the excitement as if I actually traveled there by plane. I like traveling on the Web using the Porteus Labs because they upload in seconds compare to CLIC Lab, they upload in minutes. So I recommend that you search on the Web and Search Engines in Porteus Lab instead of CLIC Lab.

The Web is a place where one can travel through the computer and back without interacting with the writer of the site that you are visiting. I find it uneasy at sometimes because you don't know the person behind the writing, you only have a screen to look at. I can't see how people can know what the person looks like without meeting them in person. For example, one day I got a talk message from this guy and I thought I knew him personally because he had my e-mail address. I talked to him and found out I didn't even know him at all. I didn't even give him my address and it's suppose to be unattainable. Well, unless you get my e-mail address through the Web.

I just found out that the guy probably got my address from UHUNIX by writing something at the prompt. Wow, I can't believe people can do this and get your e-mail address and your full name. Now, I don't believe he didn't know my name because the information was in front of him. Yes, I am one who doesn't like it when people I don't know do this type of thing to me, would you? It's a little strange to me if you ask me.

Now I know that the Internet has many problems that need to be fixed. I guess what it all boils down to is that if people are desperate to find something, they'll do anything to get it, even if it means getting into someone's information without their consent. Maybe it's just me, I just don't like getting information about people without asking them for it. I guess I believe in social interactions and not computer interactions when it comes to people who want to know me personally. Look, put it this way, I don't think the computer is the way to get to know a person. I think meeting them in person is a better way of getting to know someone.

My online personality: Want to know what I'm like on the computer, don't you? Well, I enjoy searching online when it involves nothing with school work. I like to search around looking for icons, images, and pictures that are humorous, colorful, and things that deal with nature. More specifically, wildlife animals (for example, wolves, wild cats [tigers and cougars], and baby animals).

To me, I like colorful places to visit on the Web because it brings color into my life. I like to play with colors. Yup, I was one of those who drew with crayons all over the house. I even personalized our dining table with my name in pencil. It's still there today, I sure engrave my name into it. Boy was that fun, except for the scoldings, of course. Hey, I bet you have your own fun memories that weren't funny to your parents too. I just wish I could mix colors on the Web to create other colors that aren't listed in the color chart.

No I'm no art student, I can't draw for beans. Artistic genes missed me when I was born, went to my brother. I can only draw stick people. Hey, are you laughing at me? Come on it's not that funny, is it? Hey, at least I told you the truth. Okay, go ahead and laugh. I'll just sit here for awhile so you can have your fun. Got to have fun sometime, huh?

Okay, hello there; it's me again. Catch your breath. I guess it is a little funny, huh? Anyways, I use to have a big problem with impatience, now I just have a smaller problem with it. If you're like me, take my advice. Uploading takes longer than 7 seconds, just hit the back button. If you need to view the site for some reason, just click into pico and write something, come back and the uploading should be done. At least that's the two things I do. Beats waiting around and curling my hair. Sometimes, I bit my nails, rub my head, NO! I don't dig my nose like other people in here (like the guy two seats away from me), or I play hangman with my spelling corrector. I forgot one thing, I do look at people around me when I need to wait for something.

Procrastination, what can I say to that one. Can't say much, I still have that problem. No idea how to overcome that one. I've been working on that problem for years. I think it's a natural problem for college students, what do you think?

When I come across a problem, I ask the people in my class to help me. I even ask people in my other classes and the lab monitors because they are knowledgeable in computers. I don't know what my personality is like on the computer but I know one thing, that's not important. The importance deals with you understanding how search engines work in this report. In my report two, importance is you understanding my developmental patterns of learning the Internet for the second time. Hope you understand that in report one, deals with you understanding how I liked and disliked prior generations on the Internet. Not to mention my advice to the future generation and you about how you can go about dealing with your problems and solving them on your own if you can.



My Cyber-Psychology Homepage Site.
My Cyber-Psychology Topical Index Location.
Dr. James Homepage: The University of HawaiiŒs Cyber-Psychology Home base.

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