Introduction to Using and Searching the Internet

What you’ll learn to do: access and navigate the internet.

The ability to identify and operate a web browser is a crucial skill in today’s business
environment. In addition to browser identification, a basic understanding of general browser
navigation assist you in searches, presentations, and beyond. While different browsers have
different features, there are a lot of similarities among them.

Internet Browsers

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Identify three main browsers used to access the internet.

A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software application for retrieving,

presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web (also known as the
internet or the Net). The most popular web browsers are Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge
(formerly Internet Explorer), Mozilla Firefox, and Apple’s Safari. If you have a Windows
computer, Microsoft Edge (or its older counterpart, Internet Explorer) are already installed on
your computer. If you are running an Apple computer, you already have Safari installed on your
computer. You may also have other browsers installed on your computer. If the browser you
want to use is not installed on your computer, download links for Chrome and Firefox are in
their respective sections below.

This course will focus first on the three primary browsers (Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) and then
walk

Identifying Browsers

There are three primary browsers that are used to access the internet that you need to be able
to identify and use. Each of these browsers is made by a separate company, and has a different
look, but there are many tools and shortcuts that can generally be used on any of the browsers.

through a set of tools and skills which can be used in any browser.

Microsoft Edge

You have most likely heard the name of one or more of these browsers, but let’s first identify
the Microsoft Edge browser.
 This is the icon associated with the Edge The older Internet Explorer (IE) icon may be on your
browser. This is a recent change to the desktop, but the Edge browser is the preferred
original Microsoft browser which was called browser for Microsoft now. For your reference, the
Internet Explorer. older IE icon looked like this.

Unlike other browsers, which must be downloaded, Microsoft Edge (or Internet Explorer) comes
with Windows. That means if you have a Windows computer, Edge (or Explorer) is already on
your computer. The Edge icon on a Windows 10 computer system can be found either on the
bottom taskbar or along the side. Click on the icon with the mouse and it will open the browser.
The icon might be in slightly different places on your desktop but look for the icon and double
click on it to open the browser. Regardless of which version of Windows you have, you can also
open the browser from the start menu. Select the start button, and when you see the icon for
Edge, select it and it will open.

After clicking with the mouse on the Edge icon, a window will open and will look like this
window if new (#1) or may have a news page displayed (#2), or it will open to the business
default page that has already been established by the company’s Information Technology (IT)
department.
Google Chrome

One of the most popular web browsers is Google Chrome (often simply referred to as Chrome).
This icon is associated with the Chrome browser. This browser will be used as an example in this
course in order to learn basic browser navigation skills and perform the other assignments and
tasks associated with this module.

If Chrome is on your computer, the Chrome browser icon can be found on the Windows 10
desktop in the bottom task bar or along the side. Regardless of which version of Windows you
have, you can also open the browser from the start menu. Select the start button and type
in Chrome. If the Chrome browser is on your computer, it will be displayed in the menu, where
you can now see the icon and select it to open.

If you wish to use this browser but do not have it on your computer, it can be downloaded and
added by going to this website https://www.google.com/chrome/ and selecting
the Download option from the top menu.
After clicking on the Chrome icon, a window will open up and look like this window, or it will
open to the business default page that has already been established by the company’s IT
department. You may already notice that some of the features have similarities between the
browser windows. Now to the final browser identification.
Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox (often simply referred to as Firefox) is a browser created by the company Mozilla
and is another browser frequently used to “surf” or search the World Wide Web. This is the icon
associated with the Firefox browser.

If Firefox is on your computer, the Firefox icon on your Windows 10 computer system can be
found either on the bottom taskbar or along the side. The icon might be in slightly different
places on your desktop, but look for the icon and click on it to open the browser. Just like the
other two browsers, it may also be opened in the Start menu box by typing Firefox, then
selecting the option to open it.
If you wish to use this browser but do not have it on your computer, you can open a browser
that you do have and use this address to download the Firefox
browser https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ onto your computer

After clicking on the Firefox icon, a window will open and look similar to this window or will be
on a default page that has been set up by the company.
Basic Browser Tools

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Identify basic navigation tools used in a browser.

Now that you are familiar with what the three main browsers look like, where to locate them,
and how to open them, it’s time to learn a few of the basic tools to navigate and use a browser
window. Even though we are the Chrome browser as an example to show these tools, they can
be used in almost any browser.

1. Arrow Buttons. These two arrows navigate the browser back (the left arrow) to a
previously viewed webpage or forward (the right arrow) to more currently viewed
webpages. These buttons can be pushed more than once to cause the browser to go
back or forward further to web pages rendered in a browser session’s history.

2. Refresh Button. This button reloads a webpage. Refreshing will update the information
on a webpage if it has changed. If a webpage has not completely loaded, refreshing will
reload the page so that it completely renders on the screen.

3. New Tab Button. Opens a new page in the same window when selected. This option
allows for many websites to be open but contained within one main window frame. This
keeps the desktop from being cluttered with too many open windows.
 1. Address Bar. This text field on a browser that identifies the webpage currently being
viewed in a browser window. All address bars are located at the top of the browser
window. A user can type in a new address to navigate to a new webpage. Each website
on the internet is reached by a web address known as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
that references a specific location on the internet. Type a URL into the address bar of a
browser, then press the Enter (Return) key on the keyboard to make the browser load
the webpage associated with the URL. As browsers have gotten more sophisticated,
most do not require for http:// or even the www to be typed in order for the webpage to
be discovered.

2. Resizing and Closing Buttons. As covered in Common Terminology, these buttons allow
a user to change the size of a browser window.

a.Minimize Button. Represented by an underscore in the upper right corner of the window.
When minimized, the browser will remain on the taskbar but not be visibly open on the
desktop.

b. Maximize Button. Represented by a square in the upper right corner of the window. When
maximized, a browser window will enlarge a window, typically filling the entire computer
screen.

c. Close Browser Button. The button in the upper right corner which is an X will terminate a
browser session. This button allows a user to quickly close a browser window when they are
finished surfing the internet. Note: If there are multiple tab windows open a browser it will
usually ask if you want to close all of the tabs before shutting down the browser.
6. Menu Button. In Chrome, the menu is indicated by three vertical dots in the upper right
corner of the browser window (Edge uses three horizontal dots; Firefox uses three stacked
horizontal lines). Once the menu button is selected a dropdown menu will appear.

Dropdown Menu. Once the menu button (#1) is clicked, it will display a dropdown menu (#2)
with a variety of choices.

Hyperlinks

A hyperlink (also called a link) is a section of text, an image, graphic or icon that is linked to a
specific webpage, image, file or object. This is commonly seen in a browser as text, often a blue
color. Once the link is selected, the webpage automatically navigates to the linked webpage,
icon, image, graphic or file. This is one of the main tools used when conducting a search on the
web.
Bonus Tool

If you are ever asked by a support technician for the version of your browser, a quick way to
discover your version is to go to this website http://www.whatsmybrowser.org/. It will tell you
the browser type and additional information (like the operating system you are working with on
your computer) so you know how your browser is configured.

Web Searching

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Perform a web search using two different search engines.

The most productive way to conduct a search on the internet is through a search engine. A web
search engine is a software system designed to search for information on the World Wide Web.
The search results are generally presented in a line of results often referred to as search engine
results pages (SEROs). The information may be a mix of web pages, images, and other types of
files. Some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories.

There are a number of various search engines available and some of them may seem familiar to
you. The top web search engines are Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com, and AOL.com. For the
purpose of this course, we will be searching using the Google Chrome web browser, and search
first with the Google search engine and then Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Searching on Chrome

Your supervisor at Rowan Retail asked you to find out what the most popular kids toys are this
year. He wants to have those toys stocked in the store for the upcoming holiday season. In order
for you to find out that information, you turn on a computer and get ready to conduct a search
on the internet.

The first step is to open a Chrome browser by clicking on the desktop icon or the icon on the
computer desktop’s taskbar. Once the browser window is open, type www.google.com into the
address bar on the top of the browser window and press the Enter (or Return) key on the
keyboard.

The browser now displays the large Google search bar. As you begin to enter the phrase most
popular toys of 2017 into the search bar, notice how the search bar moves to the top of the
screen as the words are typed. This movement is normal; continue to type the phrase.
As the words are typed, the search engine will display a dropdown list of suggested search
options. At this point either continue typing the phrase or select the option of most popular
toys 2017. Selecting a suggestion option is done in two ways; either by using the mouse to click
on the desired option, or by using the down arrow key on the keyboard to select an option, then
pushing the Enter (or Return) key.

The search is now entered, and the webpage displays the results of your search. Notice how the
results are displayed. Box #1 is the first page of the search results. Box #2 is an advertisement
targeted to be relevant to the search. The search results in the list are titled by hyperlinks in a
larger font and in a blue color. These links direct you to a website with information about the
search. The advertisements on the right side are linked to something to buy. When conducting a
search for information, the primary focus is on the list of search results, not the advertisements.
Read through the search results title and select the one most closely matching the information
you are searching for to give your boss. Click on the results which seem most relevant to the
search. Using these results, you can tell your boss what the top toys are for the season.

Microsoft Bing Search

Now search in a different search engine—Bing.

The general manager of the Rowen Retail asks you for ideas to improve the store’s customer
service experiences. She wants to be able to hear about customers’ experiences in a timely
manner and address any service issues that are discovered. She would also like to generate
ideas for creating delightful experiences for the store customers. You decide to try searching for
ideas on the Bing search engine, so you turn on a computer and get ready to conduct search on
the internet.
The first step is to open a Chrome browser by clicking on the desktop icon or the icon on the
computer desktop’s taskbar. With the browser window now open, type www.bing.com in the
browser’s address bar and press the Enter (or Return) key. Notice that with Bing, the main web
page is always a photograph or picture.

Now that the Bing search page is open, type in your key words, retail customer service
improvement, into the search bar. You see suggestions begin to appear, but none of them are
what you are searching for so keep typing.
Now that you have typed in your full search phrase, push the Enter (or Return) button or click
on the blue magnifying glass to the right of the search box. The search results will look like this:

This search displays similarity to the Google search display, with one difference. To the right on
the page are suggestions for related searches which you can click on to search with similar yet
different keywords and phrases. Like the Google search, the first few search results are ads for
companies or software related to your search. These are indicated by the “Ad” label placed
before the web address. In order to discover more results, pull the scroll bar down the page.
If you select the top result it links to an article from Inc. Magazine about improving the
customer service experience. Reading through this article will give you information and ideas
which you can research further and present to your boss. Scan through the other results on this
page. There are many additional articles, ideas, and search results to discover as you continue
to research more ideas. You have now seen two different search engines, two different
searches, and a few different ways to begin searching. Keep reading through the next sections
to learn additional ways to become more effective when searching on the web.

Identifying Search Results

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Identify number of results from each search.

Number of Search Results

In the previous section, you learned how to conduct a web search in a search engine. How do
you know how many results from a search you received? Let’s go take a look.

First, open the Chrome browser; make sure you use the Google search box and type in a search
for accounting terminology. The results will look similar to this page:

Look just above the definition box to see a large number: 32,800,000. This is the total number
of accessible webpages and images about accounting terminology. It also took the search
engine only 0.37 seconds to find all of this information. Amazing!
Change the search key words just a bit to see how the number of results changes. Type in
accounting terms and see how many results are displayed.

Change the search key words just a bit to see how the number of results changes. Type in
accounting terms and see how many results are displayed.
The small change in keywords decreased the results to 247,000,000. Any keyword search
conducted will return a number of results which you can see displayed like these examples.
Often when there are so many search results it may become more difficult to conduct effective
research on a topic. There are ways to narrow down the results and conduct a more focused
search which we will go over a little later. Before we leave this subject however, there is one
more way in Google search to visually see the size of the search results. Scroll down to the
bottom of the search results page.

The larger the number of Os in the Google logo, the more results from the search you just
created.
Now you know how to discover the number of your search results. This number changes for
each search result. Have some fun and play around with searches to see the numbers change.

Bonus Search Navigation Tools

Here are a few bonus tools for navigating through search results.

1. Under the Google logo there are numbers. If the number 3 is selected, the third search
result page will be displayed. If the number 6, then the sixth search result page is
displayed, and so on.

2. Selecting the right arrow button takes the browser window to the very next search result
page (page 2) and continues to go page by page (3, 4, 5, etc.) as long as you click the
arrow button.

3. Clicking on the Next word navigates the browser window to the very next search result
page (page 2) and continues to go page by page (3, 4, 5, etc.) as long as you click the
arrow button.

4. Once past the first results page a left arrow and Previous option appear. Use either of
these to navigate to previous search result pages.
 Opening Search Results
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Open the first web search engine result.

Identifying Search Engine Categories

Each search result is categorized into a variety of subjects. Being able to navigate to the
different types of search results is an important skill to have when searching the internet. A
browser has a small menu above the search results indicating these categories.

Lets say that you are put in charge of creating a sales flyer for Rowan Retail store. It is
suggested you use graphic design to make the flyer stand out. This is the first time you have
heard of graphic design and you wish to learn a little more about it. Using the Google search
engine, you can conduct a search on graphic design.

First open a browser window by clicking on the desktop icon or the icon on the computer
desktop’s taskbar, then type in www.google.com in the address bar and press the Enter (or
Return) key on the keyboard.

In the Google search bar, type graphic design definition and press the Enter (or Return) key. The
webpage displays the results of your search. Above the displayed search results there is a small
menu bar with six choices.
Search results are defaulted to All which means that every type of category (i.e. images, news,
videos, shopping, etc.) is listed in the search results displayed on the page. This menu is used
when choosing to narrow a search by different categories. The More option when selected
drops down a small menu with additional category options. Now let’s explore how these
categories work.
 Introduction to Advanced Searches

What you’ll learn to do: narrow a search to find more useful results.

Conducting searches in the Google search engine can lead to literally millions of results. In order
to make searches more effective, search results can be narrowed down through a few simple
changes.

Adjusting Search Parameters

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Add additional parameters to the web search.

 Identify changes in the search results.

Adding Boolean Operators

There are three terms used to modify a search using a Boolean operator. These terms are AND,
OR, and NOT. In order to use these terms they must be typed using all capital letters to work.
Here is a video introducing how these three operators work in searches.

Now let’s walk through a search using each of these operators.

AND

First we’ll start with AND. After a browser is open and the Google search bar is available, type in
the search you want. For this example, the search will be marketing AND services. Look at the
page from the search and note the amount of search results. There are over 785 million search
results! What happens if the OR operator is used next for the same search? Does it increase or
decrease the results amount? Let’s find out.
OR

Next is the OR operator. In the Google search bar, type in the next search using OR. For this
example, the search will be marketing OR services. This results page has even more results with
over 7 billion possibilities! That’s far too many to search effectively. Time to try another Boolean
operator to narrow those results further.

NOT

Last is the NOT operator. With the browser window open, type the same search using the
operator NOT in the Google search bar. For this example, the search will
be marketing NOT services. The results page now has fewer results with 679 million. That is still
a huge number of results. The search results still may not be narrow enough so other methods
can be used to reduce the number to a more reasonable amount. Now let’s explore other ways
to narrow a search.