Transcript staff development presentation

"Using the Library to the Fullest"
Workshop 1: An Overview of Online
Resources
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Objectives

1) To inform about the online
resources provided through links on
the library's website.
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2) To demonstrate the ways in which
these resources can be used as
teaching tools both in the classroom
and for class preparation.
Workshop 1: Online Resources
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What are "Online Resources?"
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What are the
general categories?
Databases
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Digital Archives
Search Engines
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Online
Resources
Databases
Search
Engines
Websites
Digital
Archives
Search
Directories
WebPages
Search Directories
Websites

WebPages
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Why use online resources?
Much of what they offer is Only
Available Online.
 Promotes interactive, hands-on
learning experience for students
with different learning styles
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Increases Variety and Attention Span
Best way to teach Information
Literacy skills

Critical Thinking and Source Evaluation
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When can we use online
resources for?
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Teacher Use?
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Student Use?
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Lesson Planning
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Assignment
Completion
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Lesson Materials
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Info Reference
Whole Lesson Plans
Handouts, Media
(graphics, audio,
video, etc.)
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In-class
Demonstrations
Workshop 1: Online Resources
General Reference
Web Centered
In-class Activities
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Interactive Media
Reference
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Databases & Archives
“The Invisible Web”
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What do databases & archives offer?
Journal, Newspaper, and Periodical
Articles
 Digitized Images of existing materials
 Digital Documents that exist only in this
format
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What are their benefits?
Quality Control
 Subject and/or Title specificity
 Access to Rare and Primary Source items
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Databases & Archives cont.

Databases offered through the School
By Subject
 By Database Title
 Public Access
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Archives
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Digitized Images
 Primary
Source Documents
 Images
--See Activity Handout for all URLs
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Database & Archive Activity
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Choose a topic/unit
that you consistently
teach.
Visit at least 2
databases and 2
archives listed in the
Activity Handout.
Find at least 1 lesson
plan, image (or other
media), and article
(reading assignment)
that you could use for
the topic.
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Search Engines: Overview
The “Visible Web”
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Search Engines: Rank results according to
frequency and weight of search term in
document/site
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Plus—usually scans entire document for your
specific terms
Minus—you must already know the terms and
how to use them to get the best results—often
gives too many results to wade through
Subject Directories: Categorized/indexed
under controlled vocabulary
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Plus—sorts your search results into groups by
relevancy for you (saves time)
Minus—categories can be too limited or too
broad and leave out good sources
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Search Engines: Overview Cont.
Web
Spider
Document
corpus
Query
String
IR
System
How do
they
work?
1. Page1
2. Page2
3. Page3
.
.
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Ranked
Documents
(Sun, 2006)
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Search Engines: Queries
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Query: What you put in the search box
Boolean Logic: Ways of forming queries
to help you get only and all relevant results
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Connectors: and (makes broader), or (limits),
not/- (limits)
Symbols: “” (exact phrase), *(wild card),
~(synonyms), +(to keep stop words)
General Tip: Start out with 2-3 terms and
add limiters as needed (don’t be satisfied
with mediocrity)
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Search Engines: Examples
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Search Engines
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Google
 Ask
 Search Engine
Watch
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Search Directories
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Yahoo
Clusty
WiseNut
Remember: Use the Advanced Page
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Use Boolean Logic in Query
If results are not relevant, Modify the Query
Use Directories to find relevant terms
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Databases vs. Search Engines
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When do you use which?
Databases: Many let you directly search
and access documents and images you
cannot “discover” through a search
engine—i.e. the part of the web that is
otherwise “invisible”
Search Engines: You want to find
websites, pages, and documents open for
general browsing—i.e. the part of the web
that is “visible” to public indexing by
search engine “spiders”
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Search Engines: Activity
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Choose a question from
the Activity Handout
Choose any search
engine you want and
formulate a query to find
the answer to the
question
Modify your query until
you have as few results
as possible (which are
still relevant)
You have five minutesGo!
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Websites: The Visible Web
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Often searchable by individual site
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Fantastic sources for student
multimedia activities
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Activity building tools
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Find specialized lesson plans
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Websites: Activity
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Use any of the
sites listed in the
Activity Handout to
find 1 lesson plan
Once you have the
lesson plan, create
your own
corresponding
activity using any
of the resources
sites on the
Handout (all
sections) Workshop 1: Online Resources
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The End
Thank you for you
attendance and attention.
Response Forms: Tell us how we did…
Be sure to attend Workshop 2: Web Site
Evaluation, next Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 4:00.
References
Sun, Ying (2006) Lecture 7: Information retrieval and web
searching. Retrieved on November 4, 2006 from
http://stream.buffalo.edu/shared/soi/lis/sun3/IR/IR.html
(All graphics used are from the Microsoft Clip Art)
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