Report 2:
First Attempt, My Learning to Use Web Search
Engines:
Lycos Search Engine
To My Home Page
Dr.
James, Instructor's Home Page
Fast Forward to the Bottom
Table of Contents
What am I Searching For?
Before the Search
Begin the Search
Results Before the Click
Results After the Click
Overall Evaluation
Overall Results
Epilogue
Back to the Top
What am I Searching For?
I was undecided as to what to search for, so I thought about what was really important in
my life right now. After raising three sons, I have been given the awesome responsibility
of raising my granddaughter. I was planning to take her for one week while my Son and
his wife moved. She was one year old at the time and now, seventeen months later, she is
still with me. Raising boys seemed easy, but now, I have a girl. With the boys, I just
bought a load of levis, t-shirts and tennis shoes and always made sure there was plenty of
food in the house. Kirsten has more clothes and shoes than I and she has specific ideas of
what to wear with what. Her favorite beach attire is red rain boots and a swimsuit. I like
her sense of syle, her stubborness and her tenacity. I want her to be all that she can be
without actually joining the Army. I have read much about gender stereotyping,
expectations of parents for girls being different than that for boys, toys and media
influences. I wanted to see if there are other people with my concerns and if so, have they
published anything on the subject.
Before the Search
I have used search engines in the state libraries to locate books on particular subjects, but I
have not used AltaVista before. I decided to try the Search window on the home page of
Netscape as a place to begin. I thought I would try AltaVista because I had heard from
classmates that it was interesting and filled with many varied topics. AltaVista
Begin the Search
I opened up Netscape and clicked on the button marked Net Search, then I clicked on
AltaVista and typed in the word granddaughters There were 900 matches and the word
count was 1117 . I then clicked the button marked advanced search and typed inraising a
granddaughte. I thought this might produce several documents on this subject. This
took a very long time, the red stop sign was on, but I was afraid the computer had become
frozen. After waiting for several minutes, my typed words left the screen and I was
returned to the starting point as though I had not asked for anything. I decided to try a
different search engine.
I only read the parts of the screen that contained search engine choices and I mostly
scrolled down. It was not too confusing, I had an idea of what I was doing. Dr. James
advised us to take notes on our word processor as we went about our search. I found that
by going back and forth between Word and Netscape, it helped me keep better track of where I was going.. I
would like to go back after my reports are finished and explore the ads more. I did
become distracted by a Visa ad, offering 5.9% interest rate. I did not bookmark anything,
I am more comfortable with copy and paste.
I clicked the home button and returned to the Netscape home page. I clicked the box for
Lycos. Lycos l. Then, I decided to try typing in women's
studies because I had taken a class on that subject and found it to be related to what I was
searching for. I had a general outline in my mind of what I wanted to find and I knew if I
found it, I would know right away that this was what I wanted. I typed in Women's
Studies in the window. This gave me 183,522 matches. I scrolled down and # 10
sounded interesting, so I clicked it. I was given the message that the URL was not found.
I clicked a button for the next 10 hits. This brought me back to the start of the page.
Again, it was as though I had not asked for anything just the same as AltaVista. I was starting to worry. I knew
there had to be something written on this subject. I know from reading the news and
magazines that today's mothers are very concerned that they do not stifle their daughters with old stereotypes that have been used for centuries
and that they want information on how to best guide them into the 21st century. I had
read all of the instructions and I did not panic, I knew help was nearby, but I wanted to do
it on my own. I clicked a button that said A 2 Z- Search by Subject. I typed the words raising girls, wow!, did I get a surprise. It said, Girls, girls, girls. Asian girls, black girls, kinky girls, fat girls and much more. I found the x-rated page. Don't even go there. After I stopped laughing, I typed in
Women's Studies and clicked the button marked Go Get It. I scrolled down this page and
it said there were 460 documents. The first in the list said, Feminism and Women's
Resources. I clicked on that and scrolled down. Then I clicked on, Why are There So
Few Female Computer Scientists? I read the abstract and found this was just what I was
searching for. It talked about the various ways that women are steered away from
professional success in traditionally male dominated fields and how women should stay
away or be considered unfeminine, less attractive and less happy. It talked about bias in
children's toys and computer games. By now, I knew I had hit pay dirt. This document
can be found at Lycos
The information was very organized and clear. It was well written and factual. If you have any young girls in your family, you may want to read this.
Results Before the Click
I started clicking right away. I was anxious to see if there was anything on my chosen
subject. There were many other titles that sounded interesting, but they did not meet my
topic requirements. I will definitely go back later and read more. I read the whole
document and found many points that triggered thoughts that I already had. It was a nice
reinforcement.
Results After the Click
After I read the whole document, I was looking forward to starting my report. I re-read
the instructions and made more notes. The title is what stood out for me. The title
had the word Feminism in it, which to some people is a dirty word, but I have always felt I
was a feminist. I am not the typical woman and I am definitely not the typical
grandmother. I did not try to change anything or continue my search. I was happy with
what I had found in such a short, painless time. HTML has not come easy to me, so I was
not about to push my luck.
Back to the Top
Overall Evaluation
My Experience as a Web Searcher
Quantitative evaluation of the
overall experience
| (1) What was your overall level of
self-confidence as a searcher? |
|---|
| High: +3
+2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3
Low |
|---|
| (2) What was your stress level? |
|---|
| Highly stressful: -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 Relaxing |
|---|
| (3) How satisfied are you with the ease of using
this search engine? |
|---|
| Satisfied: +3
+2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 Not Satisfied |
|---|
| (4) How useful to you were the results? |
|---|
| Useful: +3 +2 +1 0 -1
-2 -3 Not useful |
|---|
| (5) Did the results give you a better understanding
of the topic? |
|---|
| Now clearer: +3
+2 +1 0 -1 -2 -3 Now more
confused |
|---|
| (6) How likely is it that you'll find what you need
in a future search? |
|---|
| Likely: +3 +2 +1 0 -1 -2
-3 Not likely
|
|---|
Overall Results
I was very confident as a searcher because I knew I could get help if I needed it and I had also done a little searching at the public library for book titles.
I was mildly stressed, mainly because of time constraints. I was not stressed by the process. I do not easily get stressed. I joke about it, but basically, I am pretty even keeled.
Once I got past the initial problems in AltaVista, I felt pretty satisfied that I could complete a successful search. I do not feel that I would have any problems in future searches.
The results of my search were fairly useful. I already knew most of the material, but it is always nice to see that another person has the same views and maybe a different twist on the subject. I plan to go back in Lycos and further explore my topic.
Yes, the results gave me a clearer understanding of my topic because I had forgotten some of the finer points. It refreshed my memory and made me determined to follow through on these new ways of guiding my child.
I am positive that in future searches, I will be able to find much more information and articles on my topic. This subject is very important to me. I want very much to raise a person, not a girl. My Father raised me without the normal girl stereotypes and I am so thankful to him. He is from Norway and they are much more liberal there.
Epilogue
My overall experience with search engines has been positive, despite a rocky beginning. I did not let a few failures get me down, I just pressed on, secure in the knowledge that I would find what I was searching for. Do not get discouraged, do not be afraid to ask for help. Do not get so bogged down trying to do it yourself, that you become discouraged. Anyone, even the stranger sitting next to you will be happy to stop what they are doing and help you. Computer people are very nice. Aside from my current topic, I have learned that I can search for virtually anything, and I will more likely than not, find something. If I were to conduct a search in the library, it could take me hours and even days to find what I want. With search engines, all it takes is a click here and a click there and you have what you want. You can get hooked on search engines because they feed your craving for knowledge. Never stop learning.
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