Transcript Searching the Internet

Searching the
Internet
Unit 10: Research Strategies Workshop
Use Key Words and
Search Limiters
O Use quotation marks:
O A search for “young inventors” will give you results with
both terms, in that order, right next to each other
O Combine Terms:
O Some search engines will allow you to use AND or a plus
sign to combine terms.
O Example: “young inventors” AND toys
O Exclude Terms:
O Some search engines will let you exclude terms from your
results by using NOT or a minus sign
O Example: “inventions by young people”- computers
You Type In…
You Get…
This Is…
Young inventors
1,090,000 results
far too many results.
“young inventor”
competition
104 results
much better, but
some results may
still be unrelated to
your topic
“young inventor”+
toys+ competition
10 results
best, because the
results are closest to
your topic
Evaluate Search Engine Results
1. Don’t just click on the first result.
2. Focus first on the web address.
1. Sites with .com or .net are usually personal sites
2. Sites with .org or .gov are usually government or
nonprofit
3. Read the descriptions the search engine
provides.
4. Read the page.
Exploring a Web Site
O Credits
O who produced the site
O when the site was created
O when it was last updated
O Sponsor
O Organization, agency, or individual that owns the site
and controls its content
O Knowing about the credits and sponsors can help you
evaluate a site for accuracy and reliability!
Evaluating
Sources
Unit 10: Research Strategies Workshop
Evaluating Sources
O Sources vary widely in purpose, authorship, and
the care with which they are created.
O Always carefully evaluate the sources you use
to see if they are reliable, or trustworthy.
O Evaluating means…
O asking and answering questions about the reliability
of every book, magazine, newspaper, Web site, and
other source you use.
Questions to Ask…
O What is the publication date?
O Who is the author?
O Who published the source?
O What is the author’s or publisher’s point of
view?
O Is the information useful to me?
Evaluate Web Sites
O To evaluate a Web site, ask and answer these
questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who created the site? Is the author an expert? What
does the site tell you about the author?
Why was the site created? Consider if the creators want
to sell you something- either a product or an idea.
Are there problems with the site? Watch out for
mistakes in facts, grammar, or spelling.
Are there credits? Look for a bibliography, the name of
the sponsor, and a “last updated” reference.
Could you consult a more reliable source and find
coverage of the same topic?
Evaluating Websites
O Remember to look at the URL
O .org and .gov are usually more trustworthy than
.com or .net
O Example:
http://www.dhmo.org/
http://checkplease.humorfeed.com/issues/0101/2004J
uneDHMO.php
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4534017/
Evaluate a Nonfiction Book
O Once you find a book with information on your topic, ask
and answer these questions:
What is the copyright date? Look for the most recent
date on the copyright page. If you see many dates, that
is a good sign; the book has been updated!
2. Is the book carefully researched? Look for a
bibliography, footnotes, end notes to see where the
author found his or her info. Also, check the appendix.
3. Who is the author? Look for an author biography to find
learn more about his or her education, profession, and
other publications.
1.
Evaluate Newspaper
and Periodicals
O Newspapers and periodicals are great resources for
recent information! Ask yourself these questions:
1. Is this magazine or newspaper well-known and
well-respected?
2. When was it published?
3. Who is the author?
4. Can you verify the facts?
Carousel Activity: Task
O Your topic is bullying in schools
O You will visit six stations, each with a
different source.
O Answer the questions for each source.
O Remember, be sure that the website, article, or
book is reliable/credible and useful!