Transcript Information Literacy

Information Literacy
What is it?
Information Literacy
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Ability to locate, organize, evaluate and
use information
Combines computer and research skills
Sources of information: Internet,
databases, books, newspapers,
television and radio
Internet
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There is so much information on the
internet. How do you tell what’s good
information and what is bad
information?
Search Engine
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Program on the internet to help users
search for files and information
Top four search engines:
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Google - http://www.google.com
Yahoo - http://www.yahoo.com
Ask - http://www.ask.com
AlltheWeb - http://www.alltheweb.com
Other Search Engines
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AltaVista – was the Google of way back when
(now owned by Yahoo).
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http://www.altavista.com
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AOL search - http://aolsearch.aol.com
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Live Search – (formally MSN Live) –
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http://www.live.com/
http://searchenginewatch.com/2156221
Question #13 How do sites get to
the top of a result list in Google?
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Popularity – counts the number of links
from sites all around the web. For
example, if a large number of sites has
a specific keyword somewhere on their
web site along with a link to a particular
site. The higher the number of links to
a site, the higher Google will rank that
site on a list result.
Question #13 How do sites get to the top
of a result list in Google? (cont)
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Other factors:
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Title of site,
Sites meta information
Actual content of the site
Major Directory
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0 knew Major Directory
Major Directory catalogs (indexes) the
Web
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Open Directory – http://dmoz.org – not
recommended for searching
Use Google Directory http://www.google.com/dirhp
Some answers for Question #1
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Wikipedia – NO! – not a search engine
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Wikipedia is a reference source
Free Online Encyclopedia
Articles are written collaboratively from volunteers
around the world
Facts are checked.
Answer.com –
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Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia, reference source
Some answers for Question #1 –
not search engines
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Thebostonchannel.com – a website for
WCVB TV – Channel 5 Boston
Hotmail.com – Microsoft’s free webbased e-mail service.
Boolean Operators
(Question #5)
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Terms used to narrow or expand your results
of online searching
AND
OR
NOT
Named after George Boole who invented the
logic in the 1800’s
AND, OR, NOT
Boolean Search
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Search Dolphins and Whales – this will
retrieve all records that have both keywords
dolphins, whales
Search Dolphins or Whales – this will retrieve
all records that have dolphins, whales or both
dolphins and whales.
Search Dolphins not Miami – will retrieve all
records with the keyword dolphins, but not
the keyword Miami
Question #3 Why might you use
quotation marks when searching.
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To ensure your keywords appear in the order
you have specified
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Search global warming – no quotes
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Search “global warming”
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Note the differences in the results
Question #4 URL is an
acronym for:
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1 – the brain – wrong!
1 – United Rare Ladies – wrong!
4 – Universal Router Link – wrong!
7 – IDK
2 – Universal Resource Locator –
Correct! (web address)
Question #6 – How do you find
the owner or publisher of a site
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0 – correct answers
Go to www.easywhois.com enter the
URL of the site you would like to
research
Try to find the owner or publisher of
www.wakefieldlacrosse.com
Question #7 – Extensions of URL
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.org – organization – does not have to
be non-profit
.com – company
.sch – school (used outside US)
.k12 – most US school sites
.edu – US higher education (colleges)
(Cont) - Extensions
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.gov US government (add country code for
outside US)
.ac – higher ed outside us usually with a
country code ie “.ac.uk
.net – network
.mil – military
.co – company (if pared with country code, ie
“.co.uk”) or state of Colorado, or the country
Columbia
Question #8 How do you find out who is
linked to your school’s website?
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Go to Alta Vista: www:altavista.com
and do a link: command search
Type
link:www.stjosephschoolwakefield.org
Question #9 What clues in a web address
might indicate that you are on a personal
website?
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Tilde “~” in the domain name
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http://comsewogue.org/~ssilverman/litcircles/reso
urces.htm
Percent sign “%” in the domain name
Personal name “john” or the word “user”
after the domain name and the first forward
slash
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http://kidslearn.org/litcircles/silverman/silverman.htm
Question #10 How would you conduct a search
for the following: a list of websites of all the
academic institutions in South Africa?
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Go to Alta Vista: www.altavista.com
Type host: ac.za in the search box
For subject specific resources around
the world using extensions and country
codes. Full list of exentions and
country codes:
http://www.computeruser.com/resources/
dictionary/domains.html
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Question #11 How do you find
the history of any given website?
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Use the Wayback Machine
Go to www.archive.org and type the
URL you are researching.
Question #12 How do you conduct a search for
the following: US higher education websites
that contain the word turtle
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Go to Alta Vista: www.altavista.com
Type: “host:edu + turtle”
Question #2 What is a blog?
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Short for weblog
A Web 2.0 tool
Online Journal
Can be about anything
Example:
http://weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/bees Blog about the book The Secret Life of
Bees