Facilitator: Kathy Vetter kvetter@sau56.org

www.somersworthhslmc.wikispaces.com

SSD – Summer Tech InstituteJuly 12 & 13, 2010

Info Guru

Search EnginesSearch tips and toolsWebsite evaluationOrganizing information

Info Guru

Browsers

Read web files differentlyHave different add-ons and options

Browsers

Internet ExplorerFirefoxSafariGoogle Chrome

Search Enginesand Subject Directories

Individual Search EnginesMeta-Search EnginesSubject Directories

Individual Search Engines

“Spiders” or “robots” scan web pages and index words.

Rank pages Frequency of keywords and phrasesPopularity (# links pointing to the sites)

Individual Search Engines

GoogleYahooBingExalead

How does Google Work?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHR6IQJGZs&feature=related

Individual Search Engines

Huge amount of web files are indexed so chances of finding something obscure is good .

More relevant pages often moved to the top of the result list.

Difficult to weed through huge amount of results

Good search strategy skills needed.

Meta-Search EnginesDo not create their own databases

“Crawl” other individual search engines and compile results

Meta-Search Engines

Yippy.comDogpile.com Monstercrawler.comMamma.com

For a List of metasearch engines visit http://www.pandia.com/powersearch/

Fast results

Get an overview of several search engine results.

May show results from search engines you don’t normally use.

Limited results

Many don’t query Google which has largest database.

Meta-Search Engines

Search Engine Links

Recommended Search Engines – U.C. Berkeleyhttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html

Search Poster – Joyce Valenza, Springfield Township High School Librarianhttp://springfieldlibrary.wikispaces.com/Search+Poster

Subject Directories, Portals, Vortals, & Databases

Maintained by humansContent is selected for inclusion by humansContent usually annotated with descriptions

Subject Directories

For a list of directories go tohttp://www.bestdirs.com/sitemap.php It’s a little overwhelming - try clicking on Popular Directories

Yahoo http://dir.yahoo.com/?skw=yahoo+subject+directory

MSN http://specials.msn.com/

Pandia http://www.pandia.com/plus/

ipl http://ipl.org

The Open Directory http://www.dmoz.org/

Beaucoup http://www.beaucoup.com/

Portals (gateways)Academic Information Digital Librarian Infomine Internet Public Library

Lakes Region NH http://www.lakesregion-nh.com/www.virtual Library

Vortals (subject specific)Educator's Reference Desk http://www.eduref.org/

Expedia Encyclopedia of Life http://www.eol.org/

Internet Movie Database http://us.imdb.com

Kelley Blue Book http://www.kbb.com

Monster Motley Fool http://www.fool.com

MySimonVoice of the Shuttle http://vos.ucsb.edu

WebMD http://www.webmd.com

Roller Coaster Database http://www.rcdb.com/

Organization of material may be easier to navigate/search.

Human touch- higher quality results.

Points to resources on the Invisible Web

Dead links

e-commerce bias?

Could be outdated

Limited results

Directories, Databases, Portals and Vortals

Search Tips

Advanced SearchBoolean OperatorsGoogle tips

Advanced Search

Most search engines and databases have options for advanced search.Use them!

Boolean Operators

AND, OR, NOT+ -

Boolean OperatorsStrawberry OR Vanilla OR Chocolate

Boolean OperatorsStrawberry AND Vanilla AND Chocolate

Boolean OperatorsStrawberry AND Vanilla NOT Chocolate

Boolean Operators

Boolean Searchinghttp://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/guide.php?subject=boolean

Boolify http://www.boolify.org

Boolean Searching

Salamanders not newtColleges or UniversitiesSafari not appleBass not musicMartin luther not king

More Search Tips

Parenthesis “to be or not to be”Stop words - and or not is theUse * to truncateControl F or Edit>Find Link: Site:Define:

Google Tips

More Google tips @http://springfieldlibrary.wikispaces.com/Google+Search+Optionshttp://web.appstorm.net/roundups/tips-tricks/25-awesome-google-search-tips-and-tricks

Invisible Web

Information in database files that are not indexed by search engines. Most subscription databasesGoogle Scholar is able to search some of the invisible web.

Invisible Web

Use subject directories like Internet Public LibraryUse “database” as a search term

Invisible Web tools

http://incywincy.comhttp://oalster.worldcat.org

Open archive digital resources

http://www.somersworthhslmc.wikispaces.com/Research+Databases

Website Evaluation

Credibility/Authority

Accuracy

Reliability

Relevance

Date

Sources behind the text

Scope

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Credibility/AuthorityWho wrote/created it? What are the author(s) credentials? Education? Area of expertise? Look for - about us, contact us, FAQ, site map.Is there a way to contact the creator of the website? Do other sites link to this site.

Try doing a Google search preceding the URL with link:

Example link:http://www.eol.org)

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Accuracy – Based on your knowledge, is the information accurate? Can you verify the information in other sources?Do you notice any spelling or grammatical errors?

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Reliability/objectivity- What is the PURPOSE of the publication? Does it try to persuade, sell, inform?Does it present a particular point of view or bias?

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Relevance Does the information directly support my hypothesis/thesis or help to answer my question?

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Date (currency)When was the website last created? When was it updated or revised?Depending on the subject matter maybe it doesn’t matter.

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website Evaluation

Sources behind the text.What sources did the author rely on?Are the sources reliable and credible?

Tip: Try linking to or searching for sources listed.

Using CARRDSS to Evaluate Sources

Website EvaluationSites to Evaluate

http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/fisherhttp://nytimes-se.comhttp://martinlutherking.org

Paste the URL into the search box of http://www.alexa.com and click “get details”

Use the Wayback Machine to see what the website looked like in the past. http://web.archive.org/collections/web.html

Look up the authors name in a search engine. Don’t forget to use quotes, i.e. “John Smith” Also try “John * Smith” - the * will stand for the middle name or initial.

More Website Evaluation Tips

Organizing Web Resources

Social BookmarkingDiigo.comDelicious.com

Wikispbworkswikispaces

Credits"Finding Information on the Internet." The Library-University of California,

Berkeley. Web. 11 July 2010. <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html>. Hanes-Ramoms, Melanie. "Bare Bones 101: A Basic Tutorial on Searching

the Web." University of South Carolina. Web. 11 July 2010. <http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml>. Henderson, John, and Jennifer Strickland. "Research Guides - Boolean Logic." Ithica College - Research Guides-Boolean Logic. Ithica College Library. Web. 11 July 2010. <http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/guide.php?subject=boolean>. Valenza, Joyce Kasman., Emily Valenza, and Joyce Kasman. Valenza. Power Tools Recharged: 125+ Essential Forms and Presentations for Your School Library Information Program. Chicago: American Library Association, 2004. Print.