UNDERSTANDING DATABASES

When doing a keyword search, and type in a word that is too general, you will find too many answers to look through. However, if you type in a word that is too specific, you may not find anything at all! The trick therefore, is to know how large or small to make the group that you're searching - much easier said than done! However, understanding how search engines work will help you choose useful keywords....

A search engine gathers information by visiting computers all over the world from time to time and "collecting notes" on various web sites that it finds. It does NOT store the actual web site - just information about the web site! These notes are called a database. The size of a search engine's database can be measured by how many sites it has included, how many words it has used to describe the site, and so on.