Searching for information on the internet
This page shows you how to find information on science and development
on the Internet. The examples are taken from crop agriculture, but you can
use the same approach for any subject.
These search engines try to index the whole internet. They may find
many 'hits', but a lot of them may not be relevant to your needs.
Ask
http://ask.com/
Click on Advanced Options to refine your search.
Google
www.google.com
The world's most popular search engine. Click on Advanced Search on
the Google homepage for extra features. See Advanced Search Tips
for more ways to search.
MSN
www.msn.com
Microsoft's search engine. Search for a specific word, then click on
Advanced Search for the extra features.
Yahoo
www.yahoo.com
Click on Advanced for extra features.
If you don't find what you want with one search engine, try another.
They index different websites, and rank them in different ways. The first
ten sites found by Google may all be different from the first ten found by
another search engine.
Internet Search Engines
http://www.academicinfo.net/refengines.html
A good summary of different search engines.
Search Engine Watch
http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/
More tips on how to search.
A portal is a website that is designed to give access to lots of
other resources. Examples are Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com/ and MSN
http://www.msn.com/. You can select a broad topic from a menu, then
choose a narrower topic, then a narrower one, until you find what you
want.
There are many portals that focus on specific topics, such as
agriculture, particular crops, certain institutions, or scientific
journals.
Some portals provide linkages to information managed by just one
organization and its partners. Others give linkages to information on
other websites not managed by the portal's owner.
Many business associations use portals to give their members access to
information. You may have to pay for access to such portals.
To find a portal in your subject:
Then explore the links in the portal, and follow promising leads until
you find the information you need.
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An example of a portal: FAO's
World Agricultural Information Centre portal, WAICENT,
www.fao.org/waicent/ |
These websites focus on information about science and international
development only. They include search engines, portals and directories.
Agricola
http://agricola.nal.usda.gov/
Article Citation Database gives titles, authors, abstracts etc for
articles in 850+ agricultural scientific journals.
Agriculture Network Information Center, AGNIC
http://laurel.nal.usda.gov:8080/agnic
Portal to US university websites on agriculture. Click on Browse by Topic
to see the websites it covers.
AGRIS
www.fao.org/agris/
Database of articles in 400+ scientific agricultural journals. Gives
authors, titles, abstracts, etc.
CABI crop protection compendium
www.cabi.org/compendia/cpc/index.htm
Information on pests, beneficials and crop protection. Available online or
on CD-ROM. Sign up for a free 30-day online trial. The BARC Library has a
copy of the CD-ROM.
CGIAR infofinder
http://infofinder.cgiar.org/
Search the websites of international agricultural research centres, the
Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, and FAO.
ELDIS
http://www.eldis.org/
Major source of development-related information.
FAO World Agricultural Information Centre, WAICENT
www.fao.org/waicent/
FAO's database of 500,000+ documents.
IPMNet Database of Integrated Pest Management
Resources
http://ippc.orst.edu/DIR/index.htm
Portal for integrated pest management worldwide.
Scirus
www.scirus.com
Large science-specific search engine. Use the Advanced Search to restrict
your search to certain subjects or types of information.
Formulate your search in the form of a question, like this:
How can I control diamondback moth in cabbage?
Then reduce the question to its keywords or ideas:
- pest control
- diamondback moth
- cabbage
You can now use these keywords as search terms in a search engine.
To search for phrases, put them in quotation marks:
- "pest control"
- "diamondback moth"
To find a specific scientific journal:
If you know the document title and author:
- Search for the document's title and author in Google,
www.google.com.
- If that does not give you what you need, try Scirus,
www.scirus.com.
- Or try the more specific search engines above.
If you have a hardcopy of the document and want to find a
softcopy:
- Search for the document's title and author in Google (or
another search engine).
- Or find a phrase with some unusual words in the document
(such as a name), and search for this phrase in the search engine.
- Many websites provide a Search facility that will search just that
site.
- If there is no such facility, try opening Google
www.google.com and typing your
keywords into the search field, followed by "site:" and the address of
the site you want to search. Like this:
Some search engines (especially those in libraries and on CD-ROM) allow
you to search using the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT.
Each search engine is different, so check the instructions on how to do
this.
Join the key ideas you want with AND:
- "pest control" AND "diamond-backed moth" AND cabbage
Join the synonyms together with OR:
- "pest control" OR "integrated pest management" OR
biocontrol OR pesticide
Then combine the two sets of keywords together:
- ("pest control" OR "integrated pest management" OR IPM
OR biocontrol OR pesticide)
AND
("diamond-backed moth" OR "diamondback moth" OR $$$)
AND
(cabbage OR crucifer OR "Brassica oleracea"
OR "leaf vegetable")
In Google www.google.com you
can use +, -, ~ and OR to do something similar. See
www.google.com/help/refinesearch.html for details.
Many journals will show you the abstract for free, but you have to pay
to see the complete article. Some options:
- Find a library that has subscribed to the journal's service.
Visit the library and use its computer to access the journal.
- Search for the title of the document in a search engine such
as Google. It may be available for
free somewhere else in the internet.
- Find the author's personal website. Many scientists have
their own website, or their university or research institute maintains
one for them. These sites sometimes have the full text of publications
by the author.
- Find the author's contact information. Perhaps the author has
attended a conference and his/her email address is given in the list of
participants. Write to him/her to ask
whether the document is available online, or to request an electronic
copy or reprint of the document.
- Find another article by the same author that is available for
free. It may have the information you need.
Check that you have spelled the keywords correctly.
Think of different spelling variations of your keywords:
- diamondback moth, diamond-backed moth
- organization, organisation
Some words may have different endings, depending on how they are
used in a sentence.
- horticulture, horticultural, horticulturalist
In most search engines, you can cut off the ending to search for
all forms of the word:
- horticult (will search for all the word forms above)
In some search engines, use an asterisk (*) to search for all
forms of the word:
See the Advanced Search options and tips available in most
search engines.
Make sure you have the correct scientific name for plants,
insects and micro-organisms.
Reduce the number of keywords
- Cut out any keywords that are not necessary
Use broader terms as your keywords
Use a different combination of keywords. Think of synonyms
(other words or phrases that carry the same idea) for each of your
keywords. For example:
- pest control, integrated pest management, IPM, biocontrol, pesticide
- diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella
- cabbage, crucifer,
Brassica oleracea,
leaf vegetable
You can then search for different combinations of these keywords:
- "integrated pest management" "diamondback moth" crucifer
- biocontrol "Plutella xylostella" "Brassica oleracea"
You have to restrict your search more. Be specific about
what you want to find.
Add another keyword to your search. The more keywords you use in
your search, the more likely you are to find something that you want - and
the less likely you are to get hits that are not relevant.
- If you are looking for information on pumpkin cultivation, you may
get a lot of hits about Halloween (pumpkins are used as Halloween
decorations). Try adding the botanical name for pumpkins (Cucurbita
moschata). This is likely to appear only in scientific
articles about pumpkins - so you will not get all the unwanted hits
about Halloween.
Use narrower terms as your keywords.
Search for phrases rather than individual words
- "integrated pest management", not integrated pest management
(the latter will give you hits with the words "integrated", "pest" and
"management" anywhere in the document, not just as a single phrase).
Restrict the type, language, date or location of files in your
search. Many search engines allow you to search only for files in a
particular language, from a particular website, of a particular type (eg
images), or newer or older than a certain date. Check the Advanced Search
options for how to do this.
Many libraries put their catalogues online. You can check whether the
library has a copy of the publication you are looking for, then either
visit the library or request it through interlibrary loan.
International Rice Research Institute, IRRI
http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org/
Consultative Group for International Agricultural
Research, CGIAR
http://www.cgiar.org/library/index.html
Access to the library catalogues of international agricultural research
centres (including IRRI)
Libraries on the World Wide Web
http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org/screens/webcatalog.html
Excellent list of online libraries throughout the world.
An increasing number of institutions make their information available
on CD-ROM. You may be able to obtain these CD-ROMs for free, or at reduced
cost in developing countries. They may
be available at a research library near you.
Some examples:
CABI Crop Protection Compendium
http://www.cabi.org/compendia/cpc/
Interactive database on crop pests and beneficials. Similar compendia also
available on forestry and animal health. See
http://www.cabi.org/compendia.asp for details.
Community Development Library
http://humaninfo.org
CD-ROM with over 1700 development-related books (160,000 pages). Available
at low cost from Humaninfo. Online version available at
http://www.sadl.uleth.ca/nz/cgi-bin/library?a=p&p=about&c=cdl
Humaninfo has also produced CD-ROMs on a range of other development
issues, including AIDS, food and nutrition, disasters, environment and
health. See
http://www.sadl.uleth.ca/gsdl/cgi-bin/library for online versions of
these.
IRRI Rice Knowledge Bank
www.knowledgebank.irri.org/
CD-ROM-based knowledge bank on rice. Request copies from the address
above.
TEEAL: The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library
http://teeal.cornell.edu/
A large collection of CD-ROMs containing the full text of articles from
100+ scientific journals on agriculture. The BARC library has a copy. |