Web Surfing

Review some basic information about searching the web, read about how internet search engines work then complete the tutorial "Second Generation Searching on the Web" before starting your research for the following written assignment. This additional online set of tutorials has information for both the novice and the advanced web surfer. Take a look at them.

Part I. Comparing Different Search Engines.

Search for information on chlorofluorocarbons (a general subject) using the following search engines: Google, Google Scholar (enter via CH 350 part of the Library website; on Library Homepage under "Class Stuff" choose class research guides link), Teoma, Scirus, SurfWax and Ixquick. The "Making the net easier" website is a list of 150+ different web search engines. Choose any two other search engines from this list to add to your search. Do the same exercise for the compound Buckminsterfullerene. Write a document that compares and contrasts how the various search tools responded to your chlorofluorocarbon search; how they responded to your buckminsterfullerene search; and then compare and contrast the two searches. You must do an in depth discussion with examples. This is a document that will be graded for grammar and spelling as well as your intellectual content. Think about things like:

  • Were some search tools more efficient than others?
  • How relevant were the "hits"?
  • Were the listed order of hits indicative of how meaningful the returned documents were to your search?
  • Were the documents returned by your search from reliable sources (remember ANYONE can post ANYTHING on the web!) Read the document "Evaluating Internet Sources" to learn more about how to determine the reliability of internet documents

Try narrowing your search with a couple of the search engines by using multiple concepts (use information you gleaned from your initial search to develop multiple concept terms.) Were you able to improve your ratio of good hits to not so good ones?


Part II. Finding Specific Information

Use any search engines to answer the following questions:

  • Taxol is a natural product that has recently been approved by the FDA for medical treatment.
    1. From what natural source found in the Pacific Northwest was it originally isolated?
    2. Taxol has been approved for treatment of what two ailments?
    3. Under what tradename does Bristol-Myers Squibb Company market taxol?
  • Frederick Sanger has won, not one, but two Nobel Prizes.
    1. In what years was he a recipient?
    2. For what scientific work was he honored?
  • Locate three industrial jobs for which to apply (you don't actually have to apply, just pretend that you are going to apply.)
  • Research the company, and using this information, rank the positions in order of your preference and explain how you arrived at your rankings (there is no right or wrong answer here.)
  • Write a letter of application for your first choice position (you might need to do some research on how to write a job application letter.)

This assignment is to be turned in electronically. If you use any word processor other than Mocrosoft Word, (such as Works or Pages), you MUST save your document as a Word compatible .doc, .docx or pdf file. Turn the assignment in using the file upload link on the Moodle site. Your letter should be a facsimile of a real letter of application complete with letterhead and turned in as a separate file. Microsoft Word has templates that you can use for generating letters. When you turn in your file, please name it using the following conventions:

Yourlastname_websearching.docx (Example: courtney_websearching.docx)

Yourlastname_letter.docx (Example: courtney_letter.docx)