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Infoglut
Finding Your Way Around the Internet
Browsers
Browsers are software programs that enable you to view WWW documents.
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Netscape
Internet Explorer
Mozilla
AOL
 Safari
Finding Information
1. Search engines
2. Subject Directories
3. Gateways
Search Engines
Search engines compile their databases by employing "spiders" or "robots"
("bots") to crawl through web space from link to link, identifying and perusing
pages.
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Altavista
Google
IxQuick (MetaSearch engine)
Alltheweb
Dogpile
Vivisimo
Pro: provide access to a fairly large portion of publically available pages on the
web
Con: will return hundreds of thousands of irrelevant responses
Best ways to use search engines
 finding unique keywords, phrases, quotes, and information buried
in the full-text of web pages.
 useful in retrieving tons of documents.
 wide range of responses to specific queries
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December 2004
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Subject Directories
NOTE: Today, the difference between subject directories and search engines is
becoming less clear. Most subject directories have partnered with search
engines to query their databases and search the web for additional sources,
while search engines are acquiring subject directories or creating their own. The
ODP supplies subject indexes to Google, Teoma, Alltheweb, Hotbot, AOL, and
Lycos.
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Handpicked webpages, annotated and classified by subject
Usually evaluated carefully
Yahoo www.yahoo.com
About.com http://home.about.com
Open Directory Project http://dmoz.org/
Pro: fewer number of results, directories are organized hierarchically
into subject categories and sub-categories, capability of delivering a
higher quality of content
Con: dead links, bias toward commercial sites, infrequent updates
When to Use Subject Directories
 best for browsing and for searches of a more general nature.
 good sources for information on popular topics, organizations,
commercial sites, and products
Gateways and Subject-specific databases
 “The Invisible Web” – 60-80% of existing web material
 Stuff you can’t get to from search engines
 Collection of databases and information sites, arranged by subject,
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that have been reviewed and assembled by specialists
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Library Gateways
Academic Information http://www.academicinfo.net
Digital Librarian http://www.digital-librarian.com
Infomine http://infomine.ucr.edu
Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com
 The Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org
 Librarians’ Index to the Internet http://lii.org/search?basic_search=1
 Virtual Library
http://vlib.org
 Kidsclick http://www.kidsclick.org
When to use gateways
 When looking for high quality information sites on the Web.
 Need to be fairly certain that sites have been reviewed and
evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content.
Subject Specific Databases
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Ask Eric http://www.askeric.org/
Web MD http://www.webmd.com/
Expedia http://www.expedia.com/
Roller Coaster Database http://www.rcdb.com/
Note: To find a subject directory, To find a subject data base
(keyword) intitle: “subject index” in the search box of a search engine
Anatomy of a web address
Protocol
Path to document
Host name
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Norris
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Domain name
 .edu (education)
 .gov (government agency)
 .net (network related, internet service providers)
 .com (commercial)
 .org (nonprofit and research organizations)
 .mil (military)
 K-12: school website
 Outside the US, domains indicate country: ca (Canada), uk (United
Kingdom), au (Australia), jp (Japan), fr (France)
Note: a ~ after the .edu/ as these tend to be webpages of personal
accounts at the school and often can contain student research that
may be inaccurate
Search Strategies
What is your purpose? Do you have an “essential questions”? Are
you just looking for something and you’ll know when you find it?
 Browse
 Locate specific piece of information
 Retrieve everything about a certain subject
Try It Out
First: go to http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/query?28096
or
http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/searchbox?28272
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December 2004
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Design an “essential question”
Next: How many clicks to get the answer?
Structuring the query
Quick Tips
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Be specific
Use nouns and objects as keywords
Most important term first
Use at least three keywords
Combine keywords into phrases
Avoid common words, unless they’re part of a phrase
Use plus (+) and minus (-) signs in front of words to force inclusion
and/or exclusion in searches (no space between sign and
keyword)
 Use double quotation marks (“ “) around phrases to as they are
searched exactly as is, with the words in the same order
 Lower case returns both upper and lower case versions. Capital
letter usally return exact match.
 Combine phrases with keywords, using the double quotes and the
plus and/or minus signs
Boolean logic searches
 Operators: AND, OR, and NOT
 AND narrows your search by retrieving only documents that
contain every one of the keywords
 OR expands your search by returning documents which either or
both keywords appear
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 NOT (ANDNOT) limits your search by returning first keyword by not
the second
 Nesting combines several search statements into one search
statement (…OR…) AND (…OR…)
 Boolean not always easy. Different search engines handle
operators differently (some in all caps, some not)
 Implied Boolean operators (+,-, “”) are more widely accepted.
Evaluating Websites
Now that you’ve found the answer, is it really the answer?
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Authorship? Who is responsible for the page you are accessing?
Last date page updated – is the information current?
Mail-to link for questions, comments, permission
Name, address, phone, and email address of page owner
Credentials or information on sources or authority
Distinguish between promotion, advertising, or serious content
Watch out for deliberate frauds and hoaxes
(http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoaxsites.html)
 Page stability – the web page may disappear at any time
Note: When using webpages as source material, keep a printout so
source can be verified.
Try It Out
These Micro-Modules from the 21st Century Information Project Portal
will help you learn about the many different aspects of evaluating
information from the Internet.
Author: http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/author?28313
Expertise:
http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/expertise?28316
Evidence:
http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/evidence?28317
Bias:
http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/bias?28314
Accuracy:
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http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/accuracy?28318
The Sitemap
The table of contents of a website - a way of navigating from page to
page
http://21cif.imsa.edu/teach/micro/sitemap?28325
Note: Not to be confused with…the site search box
The site search tool is like an index and returns matches within a well
defined subject
Resources
· Ellen Chamberlain, “Bare Bones 101”, USC Beaufort Library , 2003,
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html accessed 7/6/03
· Joe Barker, “Finding Information on the Internet; a tutorials”, US Berkeley
Library, 2003,
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
accessed 6/30/03
· 21st Century Information Fluency Project Portal, 2004, Illinois Mathematics
and Science Academy October 2004, http://21cif.imsa.edu/ accessed 10/1/04
Nadine Norris
December 2004