Download Searching the Internet

Helping You Search
Effectively
Deb Craft, Information Media Specialist
STMA High School
Surfing is not searching.
“Computers download information—
• They do not teach you to think.
• Computer education imparts technical
skills.
• It does not impart knowledge.
--John Rosemond
Not all the information that exists in
the world is on the Internet-Not all the information that is on the
Internet is accurate.
Let’s Get Started. . .
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Web site addresses
Searching techniques
Searching tools
Evaluating information
Citing sources
URL’s
• Uniform Resource Locator
• The web “address” that connects you with a
website
• Goes in the address bar at the top of the
screen
• Gives you information about the website
Parts of a URL
http://www.starwars.com/seminars.html
• http://--hypertext transfer protocol:
• the language computers use to “talk” to one another
• www—world wide web:
• the body of information connected by the cables and
computers of the Internet
• .starwars—domain name:
• the structured, alphabetic-based, unique name for a
computer on a network
Parts of a URL continued
http://www.starwars.com/seminars.html
• .com—top level domain:
• gives an idea of where the document is stored
• /seminars—file name:
• a folder within a website
• .html—hypertext markup language:
• the computer language used to format documents
Top Level Domains
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.edu—higher education
.k-12—elementary and secondary schools
.com—commercial
.gov—government agency
.mil—military
.org—general noncommercial organization
.net—computer network
How Do You Find What You Need?
• Libraries and department stores are planned.
• No one is in charge of organizing the
Internet.
• Well-prepared searches will eliminate useless
hits and wasted time.
Before you search, you need to:
• Prepare
• Organize
Prepare
• What do you need to know about your topic?
• Make a list of all the terms connected with
your topic.
• Include names, organizations, and phrases.
Combine
Use Boolean operators to combine your most
important terms.
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Use AND to connect the terms you want to see.
Use NOT to exclude terms you don’t want.
Use OR to include similar terms.
Use quotation marks around names or phrases
Use lower case for all proper nouns, except for
acronyms
For example…
mars AND planet AND life NOT god
But what if…
you WERE looking for information about
the Roman god of war?
The Greeks referred to him as “Ares”, so
now your search will look like this….
mars OR ares AND “god of war”
Notice the quotation marks
around the phrase “god of war”
Searching tips … an example…
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search on the word “dogs”
Add the word “collies”
Add the word “breeding”
Add the word “Minnesota”
Add the word “Albertville”
Searching tips … an example…
• If you search on the word “dogs” you
get over 129 million hits.
• Add the word “collies” – 1,960,000 hits
• Add the word “breeding” – 419,000 hits
• Add the word “Minnesota” – 81,100 hits
• Add the word “Albertville” – 108 hits
What Do You Use To Search?
• Web Directories
• Search engines:
Google
• Metasearch Engines:
Dogpile, Metacrawler
• Paid Subscription databases:
World Book Online, SIRS
InfoTrac,
Web Directories
• Good for browsing topics or general
information
• Yahoo
• Internet Public Library
Search Engines
• Are like the index in the back of a book
• Let you search for specific words and topics
• Use robots known as spiders to search for
information.
Examples:
• Google
• Alta Vista
• Hotbot
Paid Subscription Databases-•
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Evaluated Resource
Access allowed after payment
Information is accurate
Examples: InfoTrac, World Book Online, SIRS
Metasearchers-• Sends your search terms to several other
search engines at once.
• Gives an overview of a topic across the
Internet.
Examples:
• Dogpile
• Metacrawler
• Vivisimo
Remember….
Hits are returned and ranked according to-• How many times terms appear on the page
• How often terms appear
• How close terms are to each other
• How near the top of the page the terms are
found
The best results will appear on the first page or
two of hits
No two search engines are alike. Try another
search engine, or rephrase your terms if you
don’t get good results.
Once you’ve found the information,
how do you know it’s good
information?
“On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”
The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker,
(Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright
law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.
Evaluating Websites
“Let the buyer beware”
Book publishers weed out inaccurate
information.
No one checks the Internet for accuracy.
Before you start using the
information--
EVALUATE!
EVALUATE!
1.Authority
2.Accuracy
3.Currency
4.Coverage
5.Purpose/Objectivity
Who is the author?
• Is he an authority on the subject?
• Do they have an e-mail address?
• Are they an authority on the subject?
(info usually found at the top or bottom
of the webpage or on the homepage)
Is the information accurate?
• Can it be verified in an encyclopedia?
• Is it relevant to your topic?
• Does the author indicate where he found the
information?
• Are there spelling or grammar errors on the
site? More than three errors indicate a poor
site.
Is the information current?
• When was the last time the website was
updated?
• Are the links broken?
Is the information sufficiently
covered?
• Do the links go with the webpage’s
theme?
• How in depth is the material?
Is the information objective ?
• Is it trying to persuade you to another
point of view?
• Is it trying to persuade you to buy a
product?
Let’s evaluate a web site!
Five types of websites
•Advocacy
•Marketing
•News
•Informational
•Personal
Don’t forget. . .
• Google’s advanced search!
Citing a website
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Last name, first name of author.
If there is no author listed, begin with the title.
“Title of article within the website.”
Put quote marks around the title
Name of website.
Underline the name
Date article was written.
Put the date first, then abbreviate the month.
Date you accessed the article.
URL.
If the URL won’t fit on one line, break it at a slash.
Include the entire URL, not just the one for the home
page.
More Help For Works Cited:
• Citation Machine
• Noodle Tools
• Easy Bib
Example:
General Web Site
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of web page.
Date web page was created or last updated DD
Mo. YYYY. Date web page was accessed DD Mo.
YYYY. <URL>.
Example:
Abilock, Debbie. Choose the Best Search for Your
Information Need. 23 April 2007. 25 April 2007.
<http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/inf
ormation/5locate/adviceengine.html>.
• Use the right search tool for finding
information
• Evaluate the website information
• Cite your sources
Questions?