Lecture 4
What is a search engine?
Basically, a search engine is a software program that searches for sites based on the words that you designate as search terms. Search engines look through their own databases of information in order to find what it is that you are looking for.
How Do Search Engines Work?
1. The searcher types a query into a search engine.
2. Search engine software quickly sorts through literally millions of pages in its database to find matches to this query.
3. The search engine's results are ranked in order of relevancy.
How to Search the Internet Effectively
Internet search sites can search enormous databases of Web pages, using titles, keywords or text. You can maximize the potential of search engines by learning how they work, and how to use them quickly and effectively.
The challenge is to ask your question the right way, so that you don't end up overwhelmed with too many search results, underwhelmed with too few, or simply unable to locate the material that you need. As with most skills, practice makes perfect!
Getting Started
Before doing a search, it's important to define your topic as completely as possible. Write down exactly what information you're looking for, why you're looking for it, and what you're not looking for. This will help you to discover the best keywords for your search.
Use of Phrases
Your most powerful keyword combination is the phrase. Phrases are combinations of two or more words that must be found in the documents you're searching for in the EXACT order shown. You enter a phrase - such as "feta cheese" - into a search engine, within quotation marks.
Punctuation and Capitalization
Most search engines are insensitive to case: you can type your queries in uppercase, lowercase, or a mix of cases. If you use lowercase, most engines will match on both upper and lower case; so for general searches, lowercase is the safest form to use.
Boolean Basics
"Boolean" searching (named after George Boole, the 19th-century mathematician who founded the field of symbolic logic) is a powerful technique that can narrow your search to a reasonable number of results, and increase the chance of those results being useful. Boolean searches are simple to learn and tremendously effective. The three most commonly used Boolean commands (or "operators") are AND, OR and AND NOT.
AND means "I want only documents that contain both/all words." For instance, the search "London" AND "Big Ben" AND "Buckingham Palace" AND "Trafalgar Square" would return only documents that contained all four keywords or phrases. AND is the most frequently used Boolean command.
OR means "I want documents that contain either word; I don't care which." The query "London" OR "Big Ben" OR "Buckingham Palace" OR "Trafalgar Square" would return all documents that contained even one of these four keywords or phrases. Use OR to string together synonyms; be careful about mixing it with AND.
AND NOT means "I want documents that contain this word, but not if the document also contains another word." The query "London" AND "Big Ben" AND NOT "Buckingham Palace" would return documents that include London and Big Ben, but not those that also include Buckingham Palace. Remember that AND NOT only applies to the word or phrase that immediately follows it.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
ICT II - Lecture 3
Lecture 3
Browser software programs – Enables you to access and view world wide web. Example; Internet Explorer, netscape, Mozilla firefox, opera, google chrome, etc.
Parts of a Web Browser
Most of the useful tools available in a web browser are located in the top section of the browser. There are four different toolbars in each web browser; The title bar; The menu bar; The navigation bar; The address bar.
The Title Bar
This displays the title of the web page you are viewing, followed by the name of the web browser you’re using. The title bar is usually in blue.
The Menu Bar
Right below the title bar is the menu bar, the menu bar has several menu buttons. Clicking on one will open up a drop- down menu selection where selected operations can be performed.
The Navigation Bar
The navigation toolbar allows you to access a web site by entering its URL in the address box provided. Also present on the navigation toolbar are the Back, Forward, Reload and Stop buttons
Back – brings you back to the previous page
Forward – brings you to the next web page that you already accessed
Reload – forces Mozilla to re access the web site and load the current web page.
Stop – halts the loading of a web page that is currently proceeding.
Home – brings you back to the browser’s home page, or the page that automatically shows when you open your browser.
Parts of a Web Address
The web address http://www.cnn.com has a number of different parts, it is important to understand what those parts mean.
- The http:// stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. This helps your web browser locate the web page or web site, and to display it for you to see. Most browser will automatically add this prefix, so you don’t have to worry about typing it everytime.
- The WWW stands for the World Wide Web. This means that the page you are looking for is somewhere on the World Wide Web.
- The next section is the cnn in this example, is the name of the web page or web site. It is flanked by dots, which it from other sections of the web address.
- The .com here is the domain name. This tells you where the web page is registered, and often tells you what kind of web site it is.
Browser software programs – Enables you to access and view world wide web. Example; Internet Explorer, netscape, Mozilla firefox, opera, google chrome, etc.
Parts of a Web Browser
Most of the useful tools available in a web browser are located in the top section of the browser. There are four different toolbars in each web browser; The title bar; The menu bar; The navigation bar; The address bar.
The Title Bar
This displays the title of the web page you are viewing, followed by the name of the web browser you’re using. The title bar is usually in blue.
The Menu Bar
Right below the title bar is the menu bar, the menu bar has several menu buttons. Clicking on one will open up a drop- down menu selection where selected operations can be performed.
The Navigation Bar
The navigation toolbar allows you to access a web site by entering its URL in the address box provided. Also present on the navigation toolbar are the Back, Forward, Reload and Stop buttons
Back – brings you back to the previous page
Forward – brings you to the next web page that you already accessed
Reload – forces Mozilla to re access the web site and load the current web page.
Stop – halts the loading of a web page that is currently proceeding.
Home – brings you back to the browser’s home page, or the page that automatically shows when you open your browser.
Parts of a Web Address
The web address http://www.cnn.com has a number of different parts, it is important to understand what those parts mean.
- The http:// stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. This helps your web browser locate the web page or web site, and to display it for you to see. Most browser will automatically add this prefix, so you don’t have to worry about typing it everytime.
- The WWW stands for the World Wide Web. This means that the page you are looking for is somewhere on the World Wide Web.
- The next section is the cnn in this example, is the name of the web page or web site. It is flanked by dots, which it from other sections of the web address.
- The .com here is the domain name. This tells you where the web page is registered, and often tells you what kind of web site it is.
Monday, June 27, 2011
ICT II - Lecture 1
Lecture 1 – Internet
Understanding the internet
The word internet evolved from the terms Inter for international and Net for network. It refers to a global collection of interconnected networks – a network of networks.
The internet is accessible to anyone connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) with a PC, a modem and a telephone line. It represents a vast network of computers that allows information access and exchange by users from around the world.
Definition:
1. Local Area Network (LAN) – a collection of inter- connected communication and computer equipment and resources that enable sharing and distribution of information in an office building, warehouse or campus.
2. Wide Area Network (WAN) - Two or more interconnected LANS constitute a bigger network called WAN. These are geographically dispersed LANs.
3. TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. The standard protocol wherein computers are able to communicate with one another. The Term TCP specifies protocols on how data is broken down before transmission while IP takes care of moving information to desired destinations.
4. A Client/ Server model consists of several hundreds of host (servers) accessed by millions of PCs/ users(clients) for information.
Overview of Internet Applications
The internet brings together the best qualities of communication systems. The Internet eliminates long waits for a letter to reach a friend, eases shopping, banking and other transactions electronically. It’s democratic and facilitates global exchange of ideas, transforming the world into a global village without geographic boundaries. In the workplace, wise internet use results in productivity and efficiency. Information is transmitted across management levels easily, while managerial leverage is enhanced and promoting healthy interpersonal relationship. The internet is also found it’s place in education, business, medicine, and government. More and more people get themselves connected. People no longer talk about the local market but of an even larger virtual market of global proportions.
What is the internet?
The internet is a collection of computers throughout the world which are mostly connected using telephone lines for the purpose of sharing information.
Who owns the internet?
No organization, corporation or government owns or runs the Internet. Instead, many people and organizations voluntarily participate in task force groups who meet to develop standards for the many various technical needs of running the internet.
A Brief History of the Internet
In 1969, the US Department of Defense started a project to allow researchers and military personnel to communicate with each other in an emergency. The project was called ARPAnet and it is the foundation of the Internet.
Throughout the 1970's, what would later become the Internet was developed. While mostly military personnel and scientists used it in its early days, the advent of the World Wide Web in the early 1990's changed all that.
Today, the Internet is not owned or operated by any one entity. This worldwide computer network allows people to communicate and exchange information in new ways.
According to www.commerce.net, in April of 1999, there were 92.2 million Internet users over the age of 16 in the United States and Canada. By 2005, it is predicted 75% of the total US population will be online
The Internet Explosion
As os December 2005, the internet had more than 1 billion users worldwide. This number is projected to balloon to 1.8 billion by 2010. There is no question that the number and variety of people logging on is growing daily. The “virtual community” is increasingly representative of the demographics of the “real” community, as internet access becomes more common in businesses, schools, libraries and homes.
Understanding the internet
The word internet evolved from the terms Inter for international and Net for network. It refers to a global collection of interconnected networks – a network of networks.
The internet is accessible to anyone connected to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) with a PC, a modem and a telephone line. It represents a vast network of computers that allows information access and exchange by users from around the world.
Definition:
1. Local Area Network (LAN) – a collection of inter- connected communication and computer equipment and resources that enable sharing and distribution of information in an office building, warehouse or campus.
2. Wide Area Network (WAN) - Two or more interconnected LANS constitute a bigger network called WAN. These are geographically dispersed LANs.
3. TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. The standard protocol wherein computers are able to communicate with one another. The Term TCP specifies protocols on how data is broken down before transmission while IP takes care of moving information to desired destinations.
4. A Client/ Server model consists of several hundreds of host (servers) accessed by millions of PCs/ users(clients) for information.
Overview of Internet Applications
The internet brings together the best qualities of communication systems. The Internet eliminates long waits for a letter to reach a friend, eases shopping, banking and other transactions electronically. It’s democratic and facilitates global exchange of ideas, transforming the world into a global village without geographic boundaries. In the workplace, wise internet use results in productivity and efficiency. Information is transmitted across management levels easily, while managerial leverage is enhanced and promoting healthy interpersonal relationship. The internet is also found it’s place in education, business, medicine, and government. More and more people get themselves connected. People no longer talk about the local market but of an even larger virtual market of global proportions.
What is the internet?
The internet is a collection of computers throughout the world which are mostly connected using telephone lines for the purpose of sharing information.
Who owns the internet?
No organization, corporation or government owns or runs the Internet. Instead, many people and organizations voluntarily participate in task force groups who meet to develop standards for the many various technical needs of running the internet.
A Brief History of the Internet
In 1969, the US Department of Defense started a project to allow researchers and military personnel to communicate with each other in an emergency. The project was called ARPAnet and it is the foundation of the Internet.
Throughout the 1970's, what would later become the Internet was developed. While mostly military personnel and scientists used it in its early days, the advent of the World Wide Web in the early 1990's changed all that.
Today, the Internet is not owned or operated by any one entity. This worldwide computer network allows people to communicate and exchange information in new ways.
According to www.commerce.net, in April of 1999, there were 92.2 million Internet users over the age of 16 in the United States and Canada. By 2005, it is predicted 75% of the total US population will be online
The Internet Explosion
As os December 2005, the internet had more than 1 billion users worldwide. This number is projected to balloon to 1.8 billion by 2010. There is no question that the number and variety of people logging on is growing daily. The “virtual community” is increasingly representative of the demographics of the “real” community, as internet access becomes more common in businesses, schools, libraries and homes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
