What Are Web
“Services”?
Information Retrieval
The
term information retrieval refers to the discipline that deals with the
representation, organization, storage and maintenance of information resources.
It should be relevant to the information required from a collection of
resources. The representation and organization of the information items should
provide the user with easy access. Searches can be based on metadata or on
full-text indexing.
For
example, you have an assignment to complete the research on Air pollution in
Delhi. The research will involve looking for or retrieving the appropriate
content or information in two or three websites. Web browser is the main
program you will need to open websites.
Now,
let us learn how to use a search engine.
Locating Websites Using Search Engines
A
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the website. Can you remember
the URL's of all the websites? Well, the answer is No.
In
such a case, you will use a search engine.
Search
engine is software that helps you to find the website or the information you
are looking for. Or Search engines allows the user to search the Internet for
content using keywords.
You
need to type the topic in the search box. The search results are displayed as a
list of links to different websites, often referred as search engine results
page (SERP). The links are listed in order of their relevance. How this ranking
is done differs across search engines.
Search
engines often change their algorithms (the programs that rank the results) to
improve user experience. They aim to understand how users search and give them
the best answer to their query. This means giving priority to the highest
quality and most relevant pages.
To
use a search engine, you need access to the Internet. The popular search
engines are:
Google: http://www.google.com
Yahoo!: https://search.yahoo.com/
Microsoft: https://www.bing.com/
Different search engines
The
aim of the search engine algorithm is to present a relevant set of high quality
search results that will fulfil the user's query/question as quickly as possible.
Different search engines use different methods to rank or list the websites.
The three of the most popular search engines are:
Google:
Links from pages that are seen as vital by Google weigh more and increase the
ranking of the linked pages. Google also examines the relevancy of the content
on the page and other factors like mobile-friendliness. The Google ranking
algorithm changes regularly, thus is useful to keep up to date with the latest
changes.
Bing:
Microsoft's Bing search engine ranks websites based on the webpage content, the
number and quality of websites that link to your pages and the relevance of
your website's content to keywords.
Yahoo!:
Yahoo! began as a manually edited directory. Now it uses link analysis tools to
regulate page relevancy, though content is also imperative in deciding search
relevance. Other factors that are important include backlinks and a good site
design.
Know
More
Google has the vast majority of the
search market share. Bing, Yahoo and others make up a much smaller percentage.
Google is blocked by China. Baidu is the biggest search engine in China with
over 75 per cent of the search market. Baidu is a Chinese multinational
technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and
artificial intelligence (Al), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District.
How do search engines work?
Search
engines use programs, often referred to as spiders, robots or web crawlers, to
search the Internet. The process of searching the information is called crawling.
These programs or the webpages that have been discovered by the search engine
are added into a data structure or search engine's database called an index.
This process is referred as indexing. Lastly, the search engine ranks the
websites in the order of priority. This process is called ranking.
However,
most search engines will provide tips on how to improve the page ranking, the
algorithms used are well secured and change often to avoid ill use.
Not
that the algorithms used to rank the most relevant results differ for each
search engine. For example, a page that ranks highly for a search query in
Google may not rank highly for the same query in Bing.
Tips for searching the web
Following
are the tips to search the web:
1.
Search for a phrase
To
search for an exact, complete phrase and not just its constituent words, put it
in quotation marks. For example, instead of typing pollution type
"pollution in delhi". The web pages that include that exact phrase
will appear in the list.
2.
Be more specific
If
you want to find articles about 'managing bookmarks' on Google Chrome, do not
search for 'manage bookmarks. Specify the terms in: 'manage bookmarks on Google
Chrome? The more specific keywords you use, the more useful your results are
likely to be.
3.
Exclude a word
Put
a hyphen (-) in front of terms that should disqualify a page from appearing in
Google's results. For example, lightning -thunder -storm.
|
4.
Use your own words In
Google Chrome, go to the Google homepage, click the microphone icon (top) and
start talking Whatever you say appears on screen (bottom), followed shortly
thereafter by matching search results. 5. Try an advanced search If
you want much more control over your searches, such as specifying which
geographic regions to search in, how recently created a page should be, or
the page's reading level, go to the upper-right corner of the results page
and choose Advanced Search from the pop-up menu. Google's
Advanced Search page lets you fill out a form with options for a detailed,
specific search. 6. Convert, calculate, and more You
can also use Google to find all sorts of information besides lists of
webpages. Google can handle calculations (try 206*36.4), currency conversions
(195 dollars in euros), time-zone conversions (time in Paris), weather
forecasts (weather India), word definitions (define: internet). You
do not need a calculator (or a calculator app) if you have a browser open. 7. Use another search engine Even
the best Google search won't help you find pages that Google hasn't indexed,
you can try other search engines, such as Bing, Yahoo or Ask.com. And because
each search engine prioritizes search results differently, the page you are
looking for may be more prominent in one than in another. |
Thanks!!
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