University at Albany Libraries

Checklist of Internet Research Tips

  1. The Internet is a self-publishing medium. It is not a library of evaluated publications selected by professionals. Rather, the Internet is a bulletin board containing everything from the difinitive to the spurious. Everything, everything must be analyzed for its appropriateness for research use. For guidelines on how to do this, see Evaluating Internet Resources.
  2. Be sure to try out a handful of sites when researching a topic on the Internet. Do not rely on only one site or one type of site.
  3. Two major resources for locating Internet materials are the subject directory and the search engine. Be sure you understand the difference:

    4. Subject Directory
    Definition: A subject directory is a database of Internet files submitted by site creators or evaluators and organized into subject categories. Most directories offer a search engine to query the database. The service may or may not use selection criteria when choosing files to include in the database.

    When using subject directories, keep in mind that:

    1. Subject directories differ significantly in selectivity. Consider the policies of any directory that you visit. One challenge to this is the fact that not all directory services are willing to disclose either their policies or the names and qualifications of site reviewers.
    2. Many people don't make enough use of subject directories, but instead go straight to search engines. Keep in mind that some of the more academically-oriented subject directories contain carefully chosen and annotated lists of quality Internet sites. Don't overlook subject directories when searching for quality on the Internet.
    The Argus Clearinghouse is a good example of a subject directory. A more complete list may be found on the page Internet Subject Directories.

    Search Engine
    Definition: A search engine is a searchable database of Internet files collected by a computer program (called a wanderer, crawler, robot, worm, spider). Indexing is created from the collected files, e.g., title, full text, size, URL, etc. There is no selection criteria for the collection of files.

    A search engine might well be called a search engine service or a search service. As such, it consists of three components:

    Infoseek is a good example of a search engine. A more complete list may be found on the page Search the Internet.
  4. Yahoo is one of the most popular site on the Web. It is the Web's largest subject directory. But beware of its drawbacks:
  5. It is very helpful to understand the principles of Boolean search logic when using a search engine on the Web. This search logic is manifested in three distinct ways on Web search engines. Review Boolean Searching on the Internet.
  6. Other search strategies are also useful to examine in order to make accurate use of Web search engines. Be sure to check these out.
  7. When you enter more than one word in a Web search engine, the space between the words has a logical meaning that directly affects your results. This is known as the default syntax. For example:

    8. In AltaVista, Infoseek, and Excite, a search on the words

    birds     migration
    means that you will get back documents that contain either the word birds, the word migration, or both. The space between the words defaults to the Boolean OR. This is probably not what you want for this search.

    In HotBot, Lycos and Northern Light, a search on the words

    birds     migration
    means that you will get back documents that contain both the words birds and migration. The space between the words defaults to the Boolean AND. This is more appropriate.

    Be sure you know the default syntax of the search engine you are using. For an overview of the default syntax of major search engines, see Quick Reference Guide to Search Engine Syntax.

  8. When using Web search engines, a de facto search language is emerging especially for basic search (i.e., main screen) interfaces. When in doubt, use the following syntax:
  9. Search engines offer numerous features that help you hone in on what you want. For a review of these features, and the search engines that support them, see How to Choose a Search Engine or Research Database.
  10. If you have too many search results, or results that are not relevant:
  11. If you have too few search results:
  12. Don't be impressed by a large number of hits in response to a search. Often multiple pages are returned from a single site because they all contain your search terms. Infoseek and HotBot avoid this by a technique called results grouping, whereby all the results from one site are clustered together into one result. You are then given the opportunity to view all the retrieved pages from that site if you choose. With these engines, you may get a smaller number of results from a search, but each result is coming from a different site.
  13. Multithreaded search engines simultaneously search multiple search engines. They are also referred to as parallel search engines, mega-search engines, or meta-search engines. These are useful when:
  14. Many multithreaded search engines retrieve a certain maximum number of documents from the individual engines they have searched, cut off after a certain point as the search is processed. Inference Find claims to return the maximum number of results that its targeted search engines will allow. In addition, many multithreaded search engines stop processing a query after a certain amount of time. Other search engines give the user a certain amount of control over the number of documents returned in a search. All these factors have two implications:
  15. The better multithreaded search engines remove duplicate files and give you some information along with the document title. To see a list of multithreaded search engines, visit Search the Internet.
  16. Many search engines offer higher-end features that allow you to fine-tune your searches. To view a tutorial about these features, see The Finer Points of Web Search Engines.
Laura Cohen | October 1998
lcohen@cnsvax.albany.edu