PRINCE OF WALES LEARNING COMMONGS

INTERNET SEARCHING

Note: Copy and Paste is a convenient way to collect chunks of information or selected quotations. It does not take the place of note-taking. To make the work your own and to understand the concepts you must make your own notes from which to develop your project.
See the Plagiarism Page for more information.

1. FILE Saving a file:

• Select FILE
• Select SAVE AS
• Name file
• Designate a drive - H: (for your account) or E: (your USB drive)
• Select a file type. Here you have a choice. Generally save an Internet file as a TEXT file.
• Save.

2. EDIT,COPY/EDIT, PASTE: USING WORDPAD TO SAVE ADDRESSES OR TEXT

Open Open any word processing program (MS Word, Open Office, Notepad etc.)
.

COPY: In using any browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome etc)

1. With the curser in the address box, highlight the address by holding down the mouse button and dragging across the address.
   Or: Hold Down the mouse button at one corner of text you would like to copy and drag to the opposite corner.
2. Select EDIT
3. Select COPY

1. Select EDIT
2. Select PASTE

EDIT, Select All allows you to select all text at once.
If you are copying an address, make sure you type in the name of the site.
Remember to get all the information that you need for a Bibliography.
Control C , Control V are the keyboard commands for Edit Copy, Edit Paste.

3. SAVING IMAGES

1. Place the curser (hand) on the picture.
2. Click on the RIGHT mouse button.
3. Select Save Image As
4. Choose a location to save - H: (your network account) or E: (your USB drive)
5. You may wish to Rename the Image
6. Save

Top

ABOUT THE INTERNET AND INTERNET TOOLS

• What is the Internet?
  • The Internet connects computers together by means of phone lines or cables so that we can communicate with each other electronically.
  • The Internet includes the World Wide Web.

• What is the World Wide Web?
  • The WWW is one part of the Internet.
  • Like a spider web, the WWW is a system that links Web Pages together so that it is easy to navigate from one site to another.

• What is a Search Engine?
  • A search engine is an index that allows you to do Keyword Subject Searches on the Internet.

• How do I know that a search is in progress?
  • Watcthe the status bar at the bottom of the screen will tell you what is happening with messages such as:
  • Locating address, contacting host, connecting, transferring data, speed and length of transmission, document done.

  How do I stop a search?

  • Click on the stop sign.
  • Some sites have loops where you can get stuck. "CONTROL ALT DELETE" should produce a message box. Choose "End Task", but you may lose any work that you have not saved.

• What does No DNS entry mean?
  • The server where the web site is located cannot be found.
  • Check that you have entered the address correctly.
  • The server may exist. The problem may be with the server you are using. If at school, ask a teacher.

• What does 404 File not found mean?
  • The web site is not on the server you have contacted at the address you have typed in.
    • Check that you have entered the address correctly.
    • Try eliminating the file extensions. e.g., try www.tsn.ca instead of www.tsn.ca/tennis/wimbleton.
    • The site may have moved or simply ceased to exist.
  • This ERROR mesage may differ from site to site. Some sites will give you a more elaborate explanation.

• What do I do when: Host Not Available, host may be busy, try again later.
  • The server does exist, but there may have been a connection fault.
    • Try connecting again.
    • The server may be down for maintenance or some other reason.
    • The server may simply be busy. Try again later.
  Why does a site take so long to load?
  • There may be large graphic files (pictures) on the site you are trying to load.
  • The server where the site is loaded may have limited capacity.
  • There may have been an error in transmission. Try RELOAD.

• Do I have to type in the whole address?
  • You may eliminate http:// most of the time.
  • You must type www. if it appears in an address.
  • Search engines can now find some addresses with less information.
    • e.g., "google" will find "www.goole.ca".
  When I do a search, why do so many of the sites seem to have disappeared?
  • The Internet is a dynamic source. Sites move to different servers or are removed from servers.
  • The search engines continually add new sites, but are slow to remove dead links.

• How are Search Results arranged?
  • Most search engines place the best matches of the INDEXED WORDS first.
  • A few indexes place the best content match first. Check the search engine you are using.

• Why do I get so many hits when I do a search?
  • The search engines have millions of entries. You need to refine your search.
  • Use the techniques suggested by the search engine or go to Search Engine Help to learn how specific search engines search.
  • If you have lots of hits, read the entries carefully for clues about the sites.
    • Check the date.
    • Check the address. .edu is an education site. Many school resources have k12 as part of the address.
  Why do I get sites in my results list that have nothing to do with my topic?
  • Your search may need refining.
  • The search engines are maintained by robots that search the Internet for certain words and index sites accordingly. There is no "Cybrarian" checking for correct cataloguing.
  • Some sites have embedded text that tricks the robot in order to get more exposure for the site.
    • e.g., A site wanting to attract Canadians many have "Canada" embedded.