Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
1 Infoglut Finding Your Way Around the Internet Browsers Browsers are software programs that enable you to view WWW documents. 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. 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 Nadine Norris December 2004 2 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. 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, Nadine Norris December 2004 3 that have been reviewed and assembled by specialists 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 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 Nadine Norris December 2004 4 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 Nadine Norris December 2004 5 Design an “essential question” Next: How many clicks to get the answer? Structuring the query Quick Tips 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 Nadine Norris December 2004 6 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? 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: Nadine Norris December 2004 7 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