Better Searching

Directions and Worksheet

This worksheet is designed to help you record your answers as you explore advanced Internet
searching techniques and think about why the number of hits came out as they did. Before getting
started, make sure your advanced search options are completely visible.
This link will take you directly to Google Advanced Search.
Go to
http://www.google.com/advance
d_search

When searching on your own, you can type advanced search into the
search bar of any browser and the first link will be to Google Advanced
Search.
Another option when using Google is to conduct a search then scroll to
the bottom of the first search results screen where youll find a link to
Advanced Search.

This window opens, but does

not include all the options
available for advanced
searching.
To access the other options,
see below.

If you scroll down the page,

youll see a set of links under
the heading You can also
Follow the link titled Find pages
that are similar to or link to a
URL.
Now youre ready to refine your
search.

Directions: The column on the left tells what to search for and how to search for it. Record the
number of hits you get in the Matches column. Explain what contributed to the number of hits in the
Reasons column. The space in the column will expand as you type.

Question
Find web pages that have...
all these words: Atlantis continent
But don't show pages that have...any of these
unwanted words: shuttle film movie

# Matches
About
609,000
results

Find web pages that have...

all these words: Atlantis

About
115,000,000
results

Find web pages that have...

all these words: Greenville

There are about

143,000,000
results.

one or more of these words: Maine ME

But don't show pages that have...
any of these unwanted words: South Carolina SC
Find web pages that have...
all these words: Greenville

About
96,400,000
results

this exact wording or phrase: San Diego State

University

About
10,900,000
results

Find web pages that have...

all these words: San Diego State University

About
258,000,000
results

this exact wording or phrase: Bill 602P

About 2,270
results

this exact wording or phrase: the recent online

hoax

10 results

this exact wording or phrase: demonstrating

genuine leadership

About 2,730
results

this exact wording or phrase: Jenny kissed me

when we met

About 4,180
results

Reasons
The first search shows only
what? And excludes what? The
first search shows only Atlantis
continent, but it excludes shuttle
film and movie.
The second one has more hits
because there is a broader
search criteria, and it eliminates
fewer items, so you are left with
a greater number of answers.
The first search shows only
what? And excludes what?
The first search shows only
Greenville. It also includes
either [or both] Main and ME. It
excludes South Carolina and
SC.
The second one has more hits
because The second search
has more because it includes
South Carolina, SC. Also, it does
not need to include Main and
ME so fewer results are
eliminated.
The second one has more hits
becauseThe second one has
more because if a web page
includes all of those words, even
if they arent in order, it will be
listed. In the first search the
words had to be correctly
ordered.
What do these searches show?
These searches show that, by
using the exact phrase feature
you get more specific results.

Page-specific tools:
Find pages similar to the page:
www.edutopia.org

About 50 results

Find pages that link to the page:

www.edutopia.org

About 580
results

These are different because...

These are different because
linking a page to another page is
different than being related to
that page.

About 11 results
Find pages similar to the page:
kids.msfc.nasa.gov
Find pages that link to the page:
kids.msfc.nasa.gov

About 324
results

These are different because...

These are different because a
page can link without being
similar to it. Therefore, more
choices appear the second time.

Reflection: Please reflect on what you learned while completing this assignment.
Why are these advanced, Internet searching techniques important to you? Support your ideas with
specific examples.
Advanced internet searching techniques are important to me because they allow me to get
more specific information using the internet. For example, if I were to do a school project
and continuously get unwanted information, I could use advanced search to eliminate it.
Also, if looking for a specific page, I could limit my results to get me closer.