Weekly Reflection (Wk 3)

In today's lesson, I learned about the following:

1) What is a Search Engine
2) Types of Search Engines: Yahoo, MSN, Hotbot etc (including Search Engines for kids)
3) Tips / Strategies in using Search Engines
4) Hands-on activities in using Search Engines (Google and Yahoo)

5) Criteria in evaluating resources

6) Discussion on Blogs and hands-on

From point no.3, I learned that without a clear search strategy, using a search engine is like wandering aimlessly in the stacks of a library trying to find a particular book. This is inefficient and very time-consuming. Many a time, the chance of getting a correct hit depends on how well the author of a webpage had specified the keywords for searching. We cannot do anything about this, however we can improve our hits by searching more intelligently.

We also had hands-on activities in using two Search Engines, Google and Yahoo. We were guided to compare the search results of the Search Engines. Searching on the topic "table", we came to the following conclusion:

1) Google had more hits (122 million compared to Yahoo's 98 million, however these may include not-so relevant links)

2) Both are very fast Search Engines (searches done in 0.12 sec to 0.49 sec)

3) Both do not need to include the AND operator (we were taught the use of Boonlean Operators) during searching as it is included by default

We were then guided to use the Advanced Search features of the Search Engines, and also Phrase Search and Direct URL. We learned that using Advanced Search and Phrase Search resulted in more accurate hits.

Upon further investigation, we also discovered about the following:

1) Both Search Engines can be used to search for images and this can be very useful for us teachers. We searched using the topic 'Nepal' and discovered that the hits in Yahoo are probably arranged by alphabetical order e.g. from Building to Mountains.

2) Yahoo is directory based. It prefers to categorise links according to their classification and is thus more 'intelligent' than Google. Google places heavy emphasis on users' search techniques.

3) Yahoo has more advertisements.

4) Google has a 'I'm lucky' button for instant search.

5) A search done in 'News' in both Search Engines (using the topic 'Straits Times') revealed that

Yahoo is more western-based. Google offered more hits with contents from the local scene.

6) Groups e.g. soc.culture.singapore, are useful in searching for different views on certain topics. We can get inspiration from groups however the views maybe biased or distorted.

What I learned most from this Lesson: We can get more accurate hits by using the Advanced Search features of the Search Engines.