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One of the most important things a Web User can do is learn
to be proficient at searching the Web.
| To review the basics of Web Searching,
click the "Web Search Primer"
in the navigation bar at the top of the page, or click
here. |
| To access the University of Albany course
on Web Searching, click
here. |
The objective of this page is to help Visitors to albuterolotc.com
find
airport related Environment-Health Information on the World Wide Web. We hope to increase the
success rate of Users trying to find information
pertinent to Environment-Health issues by providing Search Engine web
addresses (url's, meaning "universal resource locator"), and whenever
possible, provide the search keywords and other techniques that will improve the chances of
successful search.
Although we focus on the keywords <Airport>, and
<Pollution>, the techniques used here can also be used to search for any
information. For example, a search for information about asthma, particulate
matter, or Stage 4 Engine emissions would follow the same logic.
Useful Keywords
Use these keywords, in any combination, to find airport related environmental-health web-sites:
use the <AND> operator to narrow the number of hits. (The <>
brackets are used here for clarity; they are not used in searching.)
These keywords and
phrases can
be used to narrow down searches
aviation
aviation OR airport
environment
"environmental science" (phrases usually require quotes)
health
"environmental health"
science
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These search arguments work for
almost every search engine listed below. They produce relevant hits,
with a minimum of bogus or secondary hits.
Most useful keywords found so far: <airport
AND pollution>
Next most Useful: <airport
AND pollution AND health>
Next most useful" <airport AND "air
pollution"> (Note the double
quotes.) |
These sets of keywords are
sometimes useful in eliminating bogus and secondary hits.
<Airport AND Pollution AND Health NOT business NOT fitness> |
A Starter Set of Popular Search Engines
The "Tips" and "Hit Rate"
information in the following table applies only to the Search Argument <Airport
AND Pollution>. Since the content of each engine's information base
changes frequently, this could all change. In addition, searches for other
keywords, such as <asthma>, <"particulate matter 2.5">,
etc. could lead to an entirely different success rate on different engines. The
"Engine" column will always connect to the engine. The other columns
are intended to be "Starter Set" information.
We encourage visitors to become very familiar with two or three engines, and to
use all of them periodically.
Any web user can access the following search engines, except AOL Netfind, which
is available only when logged on to AOL. To
access the engine, click on the name in the left column.
| Engine |
Tips |
Hit Rate |
|
| About |
Uses Boolean +/- Operators. |
Many Secondary hits |
Will need many recursions. |
| AllTheWeb |
Use Advanced Search |
Very Good |
|
| AltaVista |
Advanced Search uses Boolean. |
Not Good |
Swamped with secondary hits. |
| AOL Netfind |
Use Advanced Search
Use recursive. |
Good |
Only on AOL |
| Copernicus |
This is a must for all
serious web searchers. (Shoppers, too). And it's Free! Go to the site, and you can download the
Copernicus meta-Search Engine. One click and it installs itself, and
puts an Icon on your desktop. It uses MS Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator to browse found documents. It allows selection of the target search
engines. It supports AND/OR logic on a New search, then supports all
Boolean search functions on a Modify Search operation. You should have this if only for testing the reaction of many
search engines to your search arguments. |
| Dogpile |
Has options for metasearch or web catalog.
Catalog>Health>Environmental Health produces a list of Institutes
and Associations. |
Good |
Meta Search |
| Web Search |
Lots of Secondary Hits |
| Excite |
Basic Search Good
Advanced Search uses Boolean. |
Good |
High hit rate |
| Google |
Use Advanced Search |
Excellent |
|
| HotBot |
Directory not much help |
Many bad hits |
|
| General Web Search |
Good |
| InfoSeek |
Follow the directory to
Science>Environment>Environmental Health |
Good |
|
| Lycos |
Basic Search |
Good |
|
| Advanced Search supports AND/OR/Exact
Phrase only |
Good |
|
| Open Directory Project |
This is a project sponsored by several
other search engines. You may want to take a look at it; difficult to
use for searching. |
|
Only for advanced Users |
| WebCrawler |
Basic Search Only |
mixed results; OK for
a basic search |
|
| Yahoo |
Basic Search |
Good |
|
| Advanced Search supports AND/OR but ignores
NOT |
Mixed |
Can be difficult to filter |
| Try Airport AND Health AND Pollution |
Excellent |
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Need some training or education?
Go to the top of the page, and connect to either the "Web Search
Primer" or the University of Albany Web Search course. Click
Here
Need a Challenge? Find
information about the polluting effects of Stage 4 Jet Engines. Let us know how
you did it. To send an E-Mail, click here.
Comments, Suggestions, Feedback: Contact
Us. |