April 1998
by Kris Versdahl (krisver@means.net)
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
Well, if you've ever used the web, you know there is no shortage of information available. The real trick is finding the information that is useful to you (and not spending all day doing it).
There are three basic ways to locate information on the web: 1) Enter a specific web address in your browser (i.e. http://www.smallgrains.org); 2) use a web-based library, like Agri-Surf (http://www. agrisurf.com); or 3) use a web-based search engine like AltaVista (http://www.alta vista.digital.com).
Crafting successful internet searches, however, is somewhat of an art. The key is to step back and think about where the information you are looking for might be located, and to remember that the internet, because it is computer-based, will take whatever information you give it literally.
Let me give you an example: Let's say I want to find information on the internet about wheat scab. If I simply type the words "wheat" and "scab" into AltaVista's search engine, I get more than 60,000 possibilities (some of which have absolutely nothing to do with wheat!).
BUILDING A BETTER SEARCH REQUEST
The more specific the search request, the more manageable the results. This is where the use of Boolean logic comes in handy.
Boolean logic is really no different than how we ask questions in every-day life; it's just a bit more formal. For example, if you were to walk into your local elevator to buy wheat seed. You might say, I would like to buy spring wheat seed, but I'm not interested in awned varieties. Translated to Boolean, that same statement would look like this:
Spring AND wheat NOT awned
This internet search will find documents on the net which contain the keywords "spring" and "wheat" but which do not contain the word "awned."
Probably the most useful Boolean operator is the use of quotation marks. By enclosing your search phrase in quotation marks, you are telling the search engine to find only those documents that contain a specific group of words in a specific order.
For example, if I do a search using the keywords - Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers - I will get documents that include any of those words (Minnesota, Association, Wheat, and Growers).
But, if I use quotation marks - "Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers" - I only get documents that contain all five of those words in the exact order listed.
GO TO THE SOURCE
Another common pitfall is taking too narrow a view of your search request. Let's say I was looking for information about scab funding legislation moving through the Minnesota Legislature. Rather than using a search engine to look for the specific keywords "scab funding," I'll have more success if I stop and think about who would maintain a website on the internet dealing with the subject I'm interested in.
In this case, it would be logical to assume the State of Minnesota's website would have this information. So in AltaVisa, I enter the keywords (in quotation marks) "Minnesota State Legislature." This pulls up a link to the Minnesota Legislative Information Service. Once there, I can search and track legislation (including scab funding proposals) moving through the state legislature.
FOR MORE WEB SEARCHING INFORMATION
For more information on crafting successful internet searches, check out ZDNet's Internet User Garage at http://www.zdnet.com/products/garage/search/search.master/
* Boolean logic is named after the English mathematician George Boole who developed the concept. n