How to Search the Web

Updated: 2024-08-16 10:15 AM CDST

By now most of you should be familiar with how to search the WWW. Still, all of us can still use help, every now and then, to make our searches better and more efficient. This page should help. At the bottom are some topics you might like to know more about.

• BASIC INFORMATION ON SEARCHING
  • Finding Information on the Internet
  • Berkeley Library page contains everything a new user needs to get up to speed in using Web search engines.
    • Tutorial covers:
      • terminology,
      • basics of search tools,
      • search strategies,
      • recommended search tools,
      • and much more.
• SPECIALIZED INFORMATION ON THE WEB
  • Wired.com
    • Wired.com's news page contains news of interest to technically oriented users.
  • Technology New York Times
    • Links to the technology section on the on-line version of the New York Times.
• MISTAKES IN DESIGNING WEB PAGES
  • Top Ten Mistakes in Designing Web Pages
    • Nielsen Norman Group article about mistakes commonly encountered in Web pages.
• PRINT VS. WEB DESIGN
  • Differences in Print and Web Design
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses the differences between print design and Web design.
    • Print design, he states, usually makes for poor Web design.
    • Web design is characterized by motion of hand on mouse and of user through cyberspace.
• METAPHORS IN WEB DESIGN
  • Web Design vs. GUI Design
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses the differences between GUI and Web design.
    • Unlike GUI design, Web design must deal with:
    • device diversity,
    • surrender control to the user,
    • and realize that individual Web pages are perceived not as pages but as part of the whole Web.
  • Telephone as Web Metaphor
    • Jakob Nielsen discusses why telephony may be a better model of the Web than television, both are:
      • narrowcast,
      • 1:1 media,
      • user initiated,
      • and interactive.
• EXERCISES
  • Let's look up some stuff just for practice. Here are some things we can search for:
    • SAU's Magale Library
      • https://web.saumag.edu/library/
      • Look up the PsycINFO database, it:
        • It contains over 5,000,000 peer-reviewed records
        • Has 144 million cited references
        • Spans 600 years of content
        • Is updated twice-weekly
        • Lists research in 30 languages from 50 countries
        • Encompasses work from 2,400 journals
        • Content comes from journal articles, book chapters, and dissertations
        • Uses AI and machine learning-powered research assistance
    • Magnolia, AR
      • https://www.magnolia-ar.com/
        • Learn about Magnolia, AR
    • Elizabeth Loftus (famous memory researcher)
      • https://www.verywellmind.com/elizabeth-loftus-biography-2795496
        • Biography of psychology's most famous woman scientitst. We will cover her work in the Memory chapter.
    • epk49 YouTubes (creme brule flambe anyone? also lasagna in Paris, TX)
      • My YouTube channel has all kinds of weird videos, "Street Sweeper" is the most visited one
    • e-mail address of Laura King (the author of your textbook)
      • kingla@missouri.edu (careful, clicking on this link sends her an e-mail)