Transcript Web Searching - San Domenico School

San Domenico High School
Online Resources
& Web Searching
A practical guide for
students
1
Plan Your Search

How much time do you have? (For quick searches, use a simple
keyword search on any search engine and hope for relevant hits
on the first returns page)

Search engines & ‘keyword’ searching. How does it work?
–
2
Basic keyword searches cast a VERY LARGE net by searching
for the word or words anywhere on the world wide web
whether it appears once or many more times on any given
page.
Pinpointing Your Search

More search terms reduces the number of hits (more equals less)
–
genocide (12 million+ hits)
–
genocide sri lanka (730,000+ hits)
–
genocide “sri lanka” (630,000+ hits)
–
genocide “sri lanka” tamils (224,000+ hits)
–
genocide “sri lankan” tamils (150,000+ hits)

Use Quotations (“ “) to search for exact phrases and narrow your
search
3
Pinpointing Your Search - Continued
–
–
–
–



4
genocide “sri lankan” tamils (150,000+ hits)
genocide “sri lankan” intitle:tamils (24,000+)
genocide “sri lankan” intitle:tamils 2009…2010 (4,600+ hits)
genocide “sri lankan” intitle tamils –site:com (681 hits)
Use intitle: or inurl: with a keyword to reduce hits
Use date range 2007…2010 to narrow results
Use – sign to discard keywords or domains
Other tips

Search a single site: site:http://www.tamilsagainstgenocide.org/

Search a single domain: site:org
Search a specific country’s websites: site:in (India)

–

To find a keyword in a long document use Ctrl + F on PC’s or
Command + F on Macs with the word(s) you’re searching for
–
–
5
Find country domains at, http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/
Go to http://www.tamilnet.com/
Use Command or Ctrl F and search for SLAF (Sri Lankan Air Force)
Consult a Directory or
Ask a Librarian

Has your topic already been indexed or cataloged for you? (use
a directory or database vs. a search engine)


Google directory, Yahoo directory, Google Scholar
If you are stuck or need help with a search,
Ask or email your librarian
– [email protected]
6
Online Catalogs & Databases

Library Webpage
–
Books


–
–
–
–
7
OPAC
Marinet
Proquest Platinum
Grolier Online Encyclopedia (World Newspapers)
Bookmarked Web Pages
Cited Works (bibliography) Help
Evaluating A Web Page

Check for:
–
–
–
–
–
Authority (who wrote or sponsored it?)
Accuracy (errors in spelling/grammar, citations or bibliography)
Objectivity (is the language or content biased or hyperbolic?)
Currency (is the information new, updated, dates?)
Navigability (is the site well-organized, easy to read, indexed?)


8
One good
One not so good