Module 4 - Boolean

Using the same key workds of your last search , think about how you would best search for the following:

• Biggest number of hits relating to advanced internet users:

Using the Google search engine which treats blanks as an implied AND, either query: advanced internet users or advanced + interenet + users delivers 80,800,000 results.

Dewa points out on her blog that using the Boolean OR would result in the largest number of hits - which it does 282,000,000. However the information is sourced from the individual words: advanced internet users, thus the number of hits is very high but in relation to a search for information usefullness is low.

• Sources relating to skills-based information on advanced internet users

Initially I thought I would try my luck with the full string phrase, using google so blank is implied AND no Boolean. I retrieved 162,000 results, the first result being Dewa's Blog.

To narrow the results I keyed this phrase into the google search box: "skills based information" "advanced internet users". 9 results were delivered to me with the top result from Nicholas Zupan (also a NET 11 student). As google reads blank and implied AND I assume "skills based information" AND "advanced internet users" will deliver me the exact same results.....interesting... whilst I still received only 9 results, the ranking changed and now Dewa's is at the top. Using the + symbol between the phrases as provides the same results.

Maybe I should get out more.....as I use Google frequently I decided to tried this exercise on a different search engine. I used MSN Live search and key the phrase in as "Skills based information" AND "advanced internet users". MSN didn't like the search and requested I review, which I did changing the AND to a +, results delivered 2 pages of information, both from Mike Owens blog (Previous NET 11 Student).

• Information on "advanced internet users" coming only from university sources.

A phrase search for "advanced internet users" ".edu.au" delievers 33 results, many of which as current and past Net11 Student blogs.

It has also been suggested that you can use: "advanced internet users" site:.edu.au, where site: is indicating a website with a .edu.au suffix, a test on this resulted in a 48 results returned and none of them are blogs. Using only .edu results in 13,700 results. So whilst a larger number of results were returned, the quality for finding educational resources related to advanced internet users is greater.