Transcript Finding Specialty Information

ITIS 1210
Introduction to Web-Based
Information Systems
Internet Research Four
Finding Specialty Information
Introduction
 What if you need very specific
information?
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Addresses
Telephone numbers
Definition of a word
Web site for a business
Introduction
 May be stored in an online database
 Usually not indexed by search engines
 Specialty Web sites include
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Telephone directories
Maps
Periodicals
Government sites
Mailing lists/newsgroups
Introduction
 Usually must visit each site independently
to find information
 Now can use intelligent agents to search
for you
Specialty Information
 Search engines know about the visible
Web
 What about the invisible (deep) Web?
 Online databases not indexed by search
engines
 Usually require direct access
 May require username/password
 May be dynamically generated based on a
specific query
Specialty Information
Databases
Password
protected files
File formats (.pdf,
.xls, .doc, .ppt, …)
Dynamically
generated pages
Newsgroups
Deep Web
Visible Web
Specialty Information
 How to find specialty information?
 Search via a specialty Web site
 May require subscription
 Libraries are good resources
 ProQuest
 EBSCOHost
Specialty Information
 Scope or focus
 Tends to be narrow
 Higher quality for specific purpose
 May find overlap with multiple sites on the
same general subject
Specialty Information
 Free or pay?
 General information may be free
 Details you have to pay for
 May require registration
 Name, address, email, credit card
 Often a means to spam you
 Current information may be free
 Archived information requires subscription/fee
 Review privacy policies
Specialty Information
 Incomplete coverage
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Up-to-date information hard to come by
Valuable
May have to pay for it
Access may be restricted by owner
 Corporate information
 Trade secrets
 Inventory database
 Employee directories
Finding People or Places
 Search by
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Name
Phone number
Street address
Email address
 Not necessarily comprehensive
 Individuals may opt out
 People move
Finding People or Places
 Where to go for people?
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Yahoo people search
WhoWhere
Switchboard
WhitePages
US Search
Finding People or Places
 Where to go for maps?
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MapQuest
Yahoo Maps
WhereIs
EarthCam
Google Maps
 Strange map
 Dig a Hole
Finding Businesses
 Yellow Pages
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Yellow.com
YellowPages.com
InfoSpace.com
AnyWho
 International
 Europages
Finding Businesses
 Reverse lookups
 ReversePhoneDirectory.com
 AnyWho.com
 InfoSpace.com
Searching Periodicals
 Periodical databases include
 Popular magazines
 Newspapers
 Scholarly journals
 Some may be online only
 Salon.com
 May not carry same stories as print
version
Searching Periodicals
 Subscription databases
 Proquest
 InfoTrac
 Searchable
 MagPortal.com
 FindArticles
Government Information
 Portals are common
 FedWorld.gov
 FirstGov.gov
 Government Printing Office
Online Reference
 Lots of kinds
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Almanacs
Dictionaries
Encyclopedias
Directories
 May be licensed for patron use only
 May be able to access from home
Online Reference
 Resources
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FILExt.com – File extensions
Netiquette – Online etiquette
Wikipedia.org – Encyclopedia
Webopedia.com - Encyclopedia
m-w.com – Dictionary
Mailing Lists & Newsgroups
 Web is not just information
 Communication and Interaction
 Mailing lists (listserv)
 Automatically email all subscribers
 Newsgroups (Usenet)
 Virtual bulletin boards
 Messages posted
 Can read and respond
Mailing Lists & Newsgroups
 Mailing list resources
 LSoft
 coollist
 Mailman
 Newsgroup resources
 newzbot.com
 Usenet Portal
 Google Groups
Intelligent Agents
 As Internet grows, finding the right
information becomes harder and harder
 New tools evolving: intelligent search agent
 Software that automates searches
 “Knows” how to query parts of deep Web
 Can rank & sort results
Intelligent Agents
Resources
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AgentLand
BotSpot
123bots
Popup-busters
Intelligent Agents