Transcript Library and Internet Research

Library and Internet Research
Integrating Library & Internet
Research
Library and Internet sources are closely
connected
 You can use the Internet to access many
of the library’s resources:

Book catalog
 Periodical index
 Electronic databases (subscription services)

Library Research
Get a library card! This will allow you to
access all the libraries within the SNAP
system (Solano-Napa Library System)
 It also grants access to electronic
databases that are only available
through a subscription.
 www.napavalley.edu

Electronic Databases
This describes a wide range of
databases available to you through the
library, including the online catalog.
 You can also access thousands of
articles through one of the indexes the
NVC Library subscribes to.
 These subscription databases are useful
for several reasons

Electronic Databases
The electronic subscription databases
list publication information for articles.
 Some databases also list the full text of
the article, which you can email or fax to
your own computer
 These databases ONLY list sources that
are reputable and trustworthy.

Working Bibliography: Keeping
Track of Your Research

A working bibliography is a preliminary,
ongoing record of books, articles, Web sites –
all the sources of information you discover as
you research your information.
 Each entry in a working bibliography is called
a bibliography citation. The information you
include in your bibliographic citation will help
you find the source in the library and then
document it in your Works Cited.
Taking Notes
Photocopy your sources and annotate
them
 Take notes by paraphrasing,
summarizing and quoting useful material.
 Make sure you include the page
numbers for all paraphrases, summaries
and quotations.
 Place ALL quotations in quotation marks

Internet Research

The Internet can be a great tool for
research, but finding quality web
materials and using them to your
advantage in your writing can be
challenging.
Why do we need to evaluate
sources?
Virtually anyone can publish anything on
the internet.
 Unlike most print sources, web sources
do not have to be professionally
accepted and edited to be published.

Search Sites: Many Types!
Search engines
 Web directories
 Deep Web Search Sites & Directories
 Meta Search Sites
 News Search Sites
 Reference Search Sites
 Government Search Sites & directories
 Blog Search Sites
 Social Network Search Sites

Web Search Engines

When you use a Web search engine,
you obtain info about Web pages & other
forms of info on the Internet, including:
PDF files
 PowerPoint files
 Word files
 Blogs
 Newsgroups

Leading Web Search Engines
Alltheweb:
 AltaVista:
 Ask:
 Excite:
 Gigablast:
 Google:
 Live Search

alltheweb.com
altavista.com
ask.com
excite.com
gigablast.com
google.com
live.com
Keep in mind
Most search engines index a small
portion of the Web (5-50%).
 Use more than one search engine to
search the Web.

Web Directories
Unlike Web search sites, Web
directories employ human editors to
organize information about Web pages
into categories.
 This allows you to search within a
collection of Web sites that have already
been judged by real people to be
relevant to your topic.

Leading Web Directories
About.com
 Best of the Web:
 Google Directory:
 Hoppa:
 InfoMine:
 Internet Public Library:
 JoeAnt:

about.com
botw.org
google.com/dirhp
hoppa.com
infomine.ucr.edu
ipl.org
joeant.com
Leading Web Directories
Librarians Internet Index:
lii.org
 Open Directory Project:
dmoz.org
 Web World:
webworldindex.com
 WWW Virtual Library:
vlib.org
 Yahoo! Directory:
dir.yahoo.com

Deep Web Search Sites and
Directories
Many specialized topics are addressed
through database-supported Web sites
that are not indexed by conventional
Web search sites.
 These sites are called the Deep Web, or
the Invisible Web because they are not
easily found.

Deep Web Search Sites &
Directories
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Academic Info:

academicinfo.net
Complete Planet:
aip.completeplanet.com
 Direct Search:
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freepint.com/gary/direct.htm
Turbo10.com:
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turbo10.com
Meta Search Sites
These sites allow you to conduct a
search on several Web search engines
or directories at the same time.
 These sites typically search the major
search engines and directories and then
present a limited number of results on a
single page.

Meta Search Sites
Clusty:
clusty.com
 Dogpile:
dogpile.com
 Ixquick:
ixquick.com
 Kartoo:
kartoo.com
 Mamma:
mamma.com
 Metacrawler: metacrawler.com
 Zuula:
zuula.com

News Search Sites
AlltheWeb News: alltheweb.com/?cat=news
 Alta Vista News: altavista.com/news
 Ask News: news.ask.com
 Google News: news.google.com
 RocketInfo.com: rocketnews.com
 World News: wn.com
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Reference Search Sites

These sites help you find information that
has been collected in encyclopedias,
almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, and
other reference resources.
Reference Search Sites
Bartleby.com Reference:
bartleby.com/reference
 Encyclopedia.com: encyclopedia.com
 Encyclopedia Brittanica Online:
britannica.com
 Information Please: infoplease.com
 MSN Encarta: encarta.msn.com

Government Documents:
Search Sites and Directories

These sites allow you find information
provided by government agencies and
institutions.
Some Government Database
Sites and Directories
About.com’s U.S. Government
Information Directory:
usgovinfo.about.com
 FedStats: fedtstats.gov
 FedWorld: fedworld.gov
 Google U.S. Government Search:
google.com/ig/usgov

Some Government Database
Sites and Directories
Government Printing Office Access:
gpoaccess.gov
 GovSpot.com: gpoaccess.gov
 SearchGov.com: searchgov.com
 State and Local Government Directory:
statelocalgov.net
 USA.gov: usa.gov

Search with Keywords and
Phrases
Use words like AND or OR to limit your
search and get more specific
information.
 Check out www.searchenginewatch.com
for great information on how to limit or
expand internet searches.
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Evaluating Electronic Sources

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Evaluating a source
means evaluating its:

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Relevance
Evidence
Author
Credibility
Timeliness
Comprehensiveness
Accuracy
Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Relevance
Relevance is the extent to which a
source provides information you can use
in your project.
 Determine whether the information in a
source will help you accomplish your
purpose.

Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Evidence
Is enough evidence offered?
 Is the right kind of evidence offered?
 Is the evidence used ethically?
 Is the evidence convincing?
 Is the source of the evidence provided?

Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Author
Is the author knowledgeable about the
topic?
 What is the author’s affiliation?
 How do the author’s biases affect the
information, ideas, and arguments?

Identify the web site
Who is the creator of the site?
 What is the purpose of the site?
 Who is the audience of this site?
 Can you purchase products at this site?
 Is the site affiliated with a business or
university?
 Does the site list idiosyncratic
information about a person or group?

Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Credibility
Pay special attention to Websites and
Blogs.
 Examine the domain: (.edu, .com, etc).
 Look for information about the site
(About This Site, or Site Information
pages)

Examine for credibility
Credibility may be compromised by
purposeful misinformation or
unintentional neglect.
 Locating the name of the site’s creator
may be challenging.
 Credentials may be missing even if the
author’s name is provided.

Examine for credibility
Who is the author of the site?
 What is the authority or expertise of the
individual or group?
 What else comes up when you type the
author’s name into a search engine?
 Does the source have a political or
business agenda?
 Is the site sponsored by a political or
business group? What do you know about
them?

Assess date of information
Can you find a date identifying when the
information was posted?
 Can you find a date identifying when the
site was created?

Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Timeliness

Check the date your source information
is published. For some topics (science
and technology-related topics, for
example) this information is especially
important.
Evaluating Electronic Sources:
Comprehensiveness

Comprehensiveness is the extent to
which a source provides a complete and
balanced view of a topic.