Using Information Technology Chapter 11

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Questions and Answers

What is the primary function of spiders in search engines?

To index the words on a website (correct)
To maintain search engines
To follow links from one page to another
To ask questions on behalf of users

What is a characteristic of search engines?

They cover the entire World Wide Web
They only index specific websites
They differ in what they cover (correct)
They ask questions on behalf of users

What is the purpose of a search engine's database?

To store user queries
To sell advertising space
To index the words on websites (correct)
To connect users to the internet

What do spiders use to move from one website to another?

Links (D) Signup and view all the answers

What type of software program is used to compile search engine databases?

Spider (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a common name for a spider in the context of search engines?

All of the above (D) Signup and view all the answers

What do search engines use to retrieve information from the World Wide Web?

Spiders (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of a spider's activity on a website?

The website is indexed (B) Signup and view all the answers

What type of search engines compile their own searchable databases on the web?

Individual Search Engines (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of Individual Search Engines?

You search by typing keywords and receiving 'hits' (C) Signup and view all the answers

What type of search tool is maintained by human editors?

Subject Directories (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of a Subject Directory?

Open Directory Project (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary difference between Individual Search Engines and Subject Directories?

The way they are maintained (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is an advantage of using a Subject Directory?

Less spam and irrelevant results (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of Individual Search Engines?

Allow searching by selecting lists of categories (C) Signup and view all the answers

What do Individual Search Engines use to create their databases?

Electronic spiders (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of push technology?

Automatically downloading information to personal computers (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of RSS newsreaders?

To pull together feeds from several websites in one place (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is XML, and what is its purpose?

A web-document tagging and formatting language, used for exchanging information between two computers (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary purpose of webcasting?

To send users customized text, video, and audio on a regular basis (A) Signup and view all the answers

What are blogs, and what are they used for?

Frequently updated websites used for public consumption (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between XML and RSS?

RSS is a type of XML (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the result of the combination of XML and RSS?

The development of blogs and the blogosphere (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of using RSS aggregators?

To pull together feeds from several websites in one place (B) Signup and view all the answers

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Study Notes

Search Services and Search Engines

Search services maintain search engines, which are programs that users can use to ask questions or search for information using keywords.
Search engines are compiled using software programs called spiders, also known as crawlers, bots, or agents.
Spiders crawl through the World Wide Web, following links from one page to another, indexing the words on each site.
A search never covers the entire web, and search engines differ in what they cover.

Search Engines and Databases

Individual search engines compile their own searchable databases on the web.
Users search by typing keywords and receiving "hits".
Examples of search engines include Ask, Bing, Google, and Yahoo!.

Subject Directories

Subject directories are created and maintained by human editors, not electronic spiders.
They allow users to search for information by selecting lists of categories or topics.
Example sites include Beaucoup!, LookSmart, Open Directory Project, and Yahoo! Directory.

Push Technology and Webcasting

Push technology is software that automatically downloads information to personal computers.
Webcasting involves sending users customized text, video, audio on a regular basis.

RSS Newsreaders and Blogs

RSS newsreaders (RSS aggregators) are programs that scour the web and pull together "feeds" from several websites.
RSS is based on XML, or extensible markup language, a web-document tagging and formatting language.
XML and RSS have led to the development of blogs and the blogosphere.
Blogs are frequently updated sites on the web intended for public consumption that contain a writer's observations, opinions, images, and links to other websites.