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Search engines are an indispensable tool for finding information on the World Wide Web. However, different search engines use different search procedures and may produce radically different results. This assignment is designed to familiarize you with several search engines. The report you write will in turn give guidance to your fellow humanities students in selecting and using search engines.
1) Choose a humanities-related topic about which you want to find information. Some sample topics: Verdi's use of Shakespeare in his opera Otello; interpretations of Morpheus in the film "The Matrix"; Toni Morrison's use of the supernatural in her novel Paradise; the controversy over Robert Mapplethorpe's art; Alan Sokal's postmodernist hoax; the topic of a recent paper you wrote for a humanities course (or one you're about to write). Select three or four keywords to use in your search. Try to make the keywords as specific and distinctive as possible: "Wordsworth" rather than "romantic poet," "dachshund" rather than "dog."
2) Select three of the following search engines:
3) Read whatever instructions the search engine site provides to help you create the best possible search (these instructions may be called "Help," "About," "Tips," etc.). Then run the best possible search on each of the three engines, using the same three or four keywords together on all three engines but making use of whatever features each engine offers to make your search most effective. Take notes on the response you get from each (total number of links provided, relevance of the top 20 links, how the links are ordered, etc.).
4) Write a paper in which you describe the steps you went through and assess the three search engines you've used in terms of the number of links provided, the relevance of the links to what you were looking for, the ordering of the links, etc. (Be sure you make it clear what topic you were seeking information about, and what keywords you gave to the search engines.) Did the links come with descriptions and/or dates? Did some search engines provide more current information than others? Did some provide more dead links than others? Were the top links more relevant to your search on one engine rather than another? Based on your experience, what do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the three? Which one did you find most useful for your search?
Your typewritten, double-spaced paper will be due Tuesday, April 1.
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