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Productivity Tip: Finding It on the internet

            The Internet gives access to the biggest reprository of information that has ever existed in the world. You can find almost anything you could ever want to know on the Internet. Or can you?  It's the aged-old task of finding a needdle in a haystack.  Only this haystack has, at the latest count more than  7 millions to look, and more are being added every day.

             Searching for onformation on the Net is enormously changing because there is an astounding amount of information to sift through and it's always changing.  Also, it is organized in chaotic and complicated interconnected system of  Web sites, Gopher and Ftp sites, newsgroups and mailing lists.

            The good news is that yes, it is possible to find specific information on the Net, and surprisingly quickly.  There are a variety of different search engines designed to access information specified by the user.  However, finding what you want required solid research techniques and a good command of how to use sarch engines.

            Each search engine has it's own Web page containing form into what you type the string of text relating to what you want to search for on the Web.  Click a button, wait a little (hopefully) while, and the engine reveals it's list of "hits" or information repositories that contain your string.

            Your task as a researcher is to select words for your string that match the entries in your engines index as closely as possible.  Otherwise, you could wind up wading through literally thousands unrelated "hits."

            Becoming a Web researcher is a complex task.  Here are some basic tips that can simplified your Web research right from the start:

            Read instructions.  Most engines provide a description of how they work and how to conduct a search.             Watch your language.  Phrase your query string to maximize each particular search engines' capabilities.  For example

            -   Some engines will search for whole phrases, or occurrences of a number of words together, instead of individual  words.
            -   Some engines let you use wild cards (" and ?) to find variation on a phrase.
            -    Some engines let you use Boolean operators, or special terms, like AND, OR, or NOT to narrow and refine your search in terms of time and content.
            -     Some engines  "stem" your query words, for example, a query for parking will also find park.

           Use more than one engine.  Different engines yield different results.  If one engine doesn't find what you want, another might.

           Rewrite you query.  If you don't get the results you want the first time, try rephrasing your query string to define more clearly what it is you want.

           Spell correctly.  Search engines don't correct typos.

           Try, try again.  After the first pass, go to the most promising sites and look for words you can use in your query to narrow or enlarge your search.  Rephrase your text string, and try your search again.

           Try synonyms.  There are many different ways to say something.  If "running" doesn't get what you want, try "races" or "jogging."

           Try metasearch engines.  These are sites where you can use several search engines to search queries.  This save the time of jumping from one engine to another.

           Try specialized engines.  Some engines search only specific group of sites, such as commercial sites, government- sponsored sits, or Usenet newsgroups.  If you know where you want to look, these specialized engines save lots of time.

            Read the hit summaries.  Most engines provide a summary of each "hit" they've found.  These summary can help you eliminate large numbers of entries without having to take the time to visit the pages.

            Keep a trail of breadcrumbs.  Use bookmarks to keep track of sites you want to visit again.

            Keep up to date.  Sites, engines, and the latest Web research tools change at least once every day.  Stay informed.

ที่มา:
Norton, Peter.  Peter Norton's Introduction to Computers. 1997. 2nd ed. 

New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 1997.  p.304.

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