Search Criteria Lesson

I remember when search engines were first coming out.  It was fantastic because we had a place that had gone through all the websites and put the content into a database.  Without having to know a complicated query language we, as consumers, could type in some words and get back a list of pages that had matching content.    It was wonderful.  It was truly amazing.

Results were weren’t completely reliable at first.   You had to learn to eliminate things by using a -criteria option to get better suggested pages.   Sometimes you’d have to go to page two, three, four or even ten to find a result that was really what you were looking for.   Today, I don’t remember the last time I had to go to page two to find good information.

The key back then was learning how to enter proper search criteria.  My son is six and he already has this down.   He’ll bring me his iPad and ask me to search for say, “Lego Batman 3”.   I do the search and tell him there aren’t any results.  He explains to me that there is a game, because he’s seen a video for it.

I don’t know what he’s seen, but there’s no game available.   I search for “Lego Batman” and show him what the options are and that there isn’t a number three in the series.    But he’s not giving up.  He asks me to search for something even more constrained like, “Lego Batman Superheroes 3”.

So I talked to him about how search results worked, that less words meant more options.   Too few words or less-specific words gave too many options.  Our job was to find just the right words to find the best choices.  

He seemed to understand.   I’ll know more when he brings his iPad to me next and asks me to search for something.   If we find nothing I’ll see if he can suggest a different way to search.


The Big Boy Update:  There is a big sign at the doctor’s office in each room indicating which room you’re in.   The signs are low down and the children can read them.   My son sounded out R-O-O-M and decided it sounded better as “rohm” instead of,  “room”.   He’s been interested in reading words all around him more and more lately.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was given a raised line coloring book of garden fruits, vegetables and herbs to color.  She’s been feeling for the outlines and coloring in the pages and is talking about our garden on the deck we planted yesterday.

Last Taper Run:  We ran ten miles today; next week is the marathon in the wooded park across from our neighborhood.   I hope we’re trained enough for it.  I think we are.