Transcript - California State University, Sacramento

Using the Web for Research
Steve Grant
Library Media Teacher
La Jolla High School
© 1999
Revised 22 October 2002
How Big is the Web?
How many individual Web pages?
 How big is a billion?

Stack of paper:
1 billion sheets = How tall?
63 miles!

Are there a billion pages on the
Web?
14
How Big Is the Web?

2.5 billion Web pages
“Visible Web”
550 billion including “deep [invisible]
Web”

7.5 million added every day

November 2000 figures
[Lyman,
11/00]
15
How Big Is the Web?

How big is the Web November
2002?
Add 7.5M pages per day for 2 years…
7.9 billion pages!
Stack of paper 497 miles tall!


Many Web pages print to more than one
sheet of paper
“Deep/Invisible” Web? Who
knows?
16
Major Search Tools
Over 2,500 search “tools” on the
Web [“Part 1”]
 13 of the major ones:
www.infopeople.org/search/
chart.html

17
Major Search Tools
Each searches different number of
pages
 Way those pages are gathered
varies

Submitted by humans?
Gathered by “bots”/“spiders”?
Selected & reviewed by humans?
18
Major Search Tools
Few use exactly same search rules
 Some search only “selected”/
”annotated” / ”reviewed” sites

Upside: Usually annotated by
humans
Downside: Not as many Web pages
searched
19
Major Search Tools

Chart divides into 3 types:
“Search Engines”
“Meta-search Engines” (search
several search engines at once)
“Subject Directories” (or “Indexes”)
20
Major Search Tools

Search engines (“keyword” search
engines)
Generate list of Web pages
containing keywords you give them

List: “Results” or “Hits”
Options to search just titles, links on
or to those pages, etc.
Alta Vista, Google
21
Major Search Tools

Meta-search engines
Hand off your search to several major
keyword search engines, gather all
results, give you one list of everything
found in any of them
Ixquick, Vivisimo, AskJeeves

We’ll look at three others
22
Major Search Tools

Subject directories or Indexes
Like searching for books in library’s
catalog
List Web pages under subject
headings

Yahoo: “Categories”
23
Kinds of Search Tools

Subject directories/indexes
(cont’d)
Many keyword engines include
directories, but…
Not as good as dedicated ones

Librarians’ Index, Yahoo, InfoMine,
Academic Info
24
Subject Directories
(or “Indexes”)
Yahoo!
www.yahoo.com

Arguably most extensive subject
directory
2 million out of 7.9 billion Web
pages… less than 0.02% [Leita]

“Drill down” from general to subcategories
25
Subject Directory: Yahoo!
Top: Full path shows “where you
came from” (where you are)
 Click any part of path to go back

Example:
click Science, then Ecology
Note path at top of page
Look at Web pages listed
26
Subject Directory: Yahoo!
Category terms are boldface; Web
page links are normal
 Categories with “@” take you to
another “branch” in categories tree

Example:
click Sustainable Development@
Now note at path at top of page
27
Subject Directory: Yahoo!

Also provides keyword search
engine
Example:
Keyword search:
sustainable development
28
Subject Directory: Yahoo!

Keyword search hit list
First hits listed: “Category Matches”
Hits only from text of subject terms
themselves
 No annotations

Then “Sponsor Matches”

Warning! These sites have paid to be
featured
29
Subject Directory: Yahoo!
Then “Yahoo! Web Site Matches”
Hits only from Web site titles or
annotations
 All annotations show
 Keywords are boldfaced in annotations or
titles themselves

30
Subject Directory: Yahoo!

Keyword search hit list (continued)
You can then go to “Web pages”
Scroll to top of page, click “Web Pages”
Hits from Google keyword search
engine
No annotations… just first few
words from beginning of each Web
page
31
Subject Directories
Librarians’ Index to the Internet
lii.org
Not for librarians… created by
librarians
 Downside: Way fewer Web pages
(10,000… 0.0001%) [Leita]

Why bother?
32
Subject Directory:
Librarians’ Index

Upside: Quality
All “useful to public library users”
“Evaluated and annotated by
librarians”--information experts...
Expert at spotting useful information
 Expert at writing useful annotations

33
Subject Directory:
Librarians’ Index

Organized a little differently
Top level: 14 broad subjects

Can see a few subtopics here
Click on main or subtopic to go list of
subtopics

Click subtopic to drill down to list of Web
sites/pages
34
Subject Directory:
Librarians’ Index

Example:
Science- | Environment...
Endangered Species
Tends to list whole Websites more
than individual pages
Note quality of annotations!
35
Subject Directory:
Librarians’ Index

Can also browse all subjects
Home page... Advanced Search
Browse LCSH
“LCSH” = “Library of Congress
Subject Headings”
LCSH used in college/university
libraries
36
Subject Directory:
Librarians’ Index

Browse LCSH (cont’d)
Click letter your subject begins
with
Example:
click E
scroll down to and click:
Endangered species
37
Subject Directory
Academic Info
academicinfo.net
13,000 Web pages (0.00016%) [Leita]
 Higher-level high school, college, &
research-level searching

38
Subject Directory:
Academic Info
Selection & annotations by a
librarian
 Subject headings relate well to
school topics

39
Subject Directory
INFOMINE
infomine.ucr.edu
40,000 Web pages (0.00051%)
 “Scholarly Internet resources
selected and annotated by
(mostly) UC librarians” [Leita]
 Harder to drill down to specific
topic than some other directories

40
Subject Directory: INFOMINE

Use a bit differently...
Pick 1 of 12 (very) general topics
Either keyword search or click
“Subjects -- LCSH” (=Library of
Congress Subject Headings)
Example:
Instructional Resources: K-12 | U |
United States--History—Revolution…
41
Subject Directory: INFOMINE

Keyword search sometimes better
Searches only within main topic
selected at beginning
Example:
united states history
42
Keyword Search Engines
AltaVista
www.altavista.com
One of the first keyword search
engines
Searches full text of 1 billion Web
pages (12.7%) [Leita]
43
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Example search:
renewable energy in California
Over 47,000 hits
No true annotations... just first few
lines from each page
Not pre-selected & categorized...
some hits may be “off target”
44
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Pages contain some of the
keywords: renewable, energy,
California
Not necessarily all the words
Not necessarily together as a
“phrase”
45
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Some of these aren’t really about
California at all
Tip: Use browser’s “Find” to search
just that Web page

To search on a phrase, use quotes:
“renewable energy in California”
Note way fewer hits
46
Keyword Searching--Phrases
renewable energy in California vs.
“renewable energy in California”
47
Keyword Searching--Phrases
renewable energy in California
Renewing Your California Driver’s License
To save you time and energy, your Driver’s License is
renewable via the Internet. You can renew your license by..
“renewable energy in California”
Energy Alternatives in California
Unlike the traditional gas and electricity sources, solar,
wind, and geothermal are alternative sources which can
provide significant renewable energy in California...
48
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista
In most other keyword search
engines you can use “ ” to specify a
phrase
Not always!

Some others (ex. Hotbot), select “exact
phrase” from drop-down list
49
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

More specific searches: use
“Boolean logic” terms

AND, OR, AND NOT
Also called “search operators”
50
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Boolean searches in AltaVista:
use “Advanced Search”…
home page, to right of search entry box:
click “Advanced”
enter keywords in “Search with… this
Boolean expression” box
51
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Search operators:
AND = “must include”
AND NOT = “must not include”
OR = alternative terms, synonyms,
alternate spellings
( ) to group terms (esp. with OR)
* = wildcard: “any other characters
[letters, numbers, symbols]”
52
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Advanced Search example:
(“renewable energy” OR “green energy”)
AND NOT (hydro* OR dam*)

Tip: To restrict search to just titles
of Web pages, use title:
Example:
title:“renewable energy”
All page titles contain the phrase
53
Keyword Search Engines-AND, AND NOT, OR
(“renewable energy” OR “green energy”)
54
Keyword Search Engines-AND, AND NOT, OR
“renewable energy” AND “green energy”
55
Keyword Search Engines-AND, AND NOT, OR
“renewable energy” AND “green energy”
AND NOT (hydro* OR dam*)
56
Keyword Search Engines-AND, AND NOT, OR
(“renewable energy” OR “green energy”)
AND NOT (hydro* OR dam*)
57
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

In AltaVista, case matters
Jockey finds only “Jockey”
jockey finds both “Jockey” and
“jockey”
Not true in some other engines (e.g.
Google, Teoma)
58
Keyword Search Engines—
Search Operator Shortcuts

Commonly-used search operator
shortcut symbols
Do not use in AltaVista
+ = AND = “must include”
- = AND NOT = “must not include”
Example:
“renewable energy” -hydroelectric -dam*
No shortcut symbol for OR
59
Keyword Search Engine:
AltaVista

Excellent way to learn use of
+ and - (and 5 other techniques)…
Seven Steps Toward Better Searching
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
searching/sevensteps2001.html
…from Bernie Dodge, PhD (SDSU), creator of
WebQuests
Includes link to online quiz
60
Other Keyword Search
Engines
Google
www.google.com
Searches full text of 1.5 billion
plus 500 million partially-indexed [Leita]

Together = 25.3% of the Web
Hit list ranked by # of sites which link
to sites listed (“popularity”)
61
Other Keyword Search Engines:
Google

For best results, use Advanced
Search
with all & without
with all = must include (= AND/+)
 without = must not include (= AND NOT/-)

exact phrase = “ ”
62
Other Keyword Search
Engines: Google
similar to
Once you’ve found a useful page, find
more like it!
 Google magic… works surprisingly well

linked to
Often pages linked to a useful page will
have other useful information
 Like “See also” cross reference at the end
of an encyclopedia article

63
Other Keyword Search
Engines: Google

Excellent way to learn powerful
Google search techniques:
Four NETS for better searching
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/
searching/fournets.htm
…also from Bernie Dodge
64
Other Keyword Search
Engines
Teoma
teoma.com

Searches full text of 1 billion Web
pages (12.7%) [Leita]
65
Other Keyword Search
Engines: Teoma
Ranks by “popularity” like Google,
but goes a step further...
 Ranks by # of same-subject sites
which link to sites listed

Example: mammal lion
Note “Refine” choices
66
Other Keyword Search
Engines: Teoma

Can also exclude terms using - …
Example:
mammal lion -sea -mountain

+, -, “ ” all work the same as in
Google
67
Other Keyword Search
Engines
FAST / AlltheWeb
www.alltheweb.com
Searches full text of 2 billion pages
(25.3%) [Leita]
 Clean, simple, fast
 Especially good for non-text
(media) searches

68
Other Keyword Search
Engines
HotBot
hotbot.lycos.com
Searches full text of 500 million
pages (6.3%) [Leita]
 Select from drop-down list for:

the person
 exact phrase
 all the words or any of the words
 Boolean phrase
 etc.

69
Other Keyword Search
Engines: Hotbot
Especially good for people searches:
Salman Rushdie
also finds
Rushdie, Salman
Helpful for media searches
Click “Advanced Search” button
 Scroll down to “Pages Must Include”

70
Keyword Search Engines:
Search Operators Summary
Search Engines Quick Guide
www.infopeople.org/search/guide.html
 Quickly see which search operators you
use with Google, AllTheWeb, AltaVista,
Teoma
 Links to & from InfoPeople Search Tools
Chart
71
Meta-search Engines

Most allow you to select which
keyword search engines they’ll
search
Often use “Advanced” / “Power”
search to do this

Many allow search operator
shortcut symbols (+, -, “ ”, etc.) to
narrow your searches
72
Meta-search Engines
Ixquick, Vivisimo… New kids on
the block
 Mamma, MetaCrawler, Dogpile not
in InfoPeople chart but worth
knowing about

73
Meta-search Engines
Ixquick
ixquick.com

Searches 12 keyword search
engines
Can only select after doing a search
74
Meta-search Engines:
Ixquick

‘Star’ rating system helpful:
Ranks a hit (number of *s) according
to how many engines ranked it top
ten in their (your) search
Example: “renewable energy”

Beware of “Sponsored” results
Someone paid for those to be at top
of your list
75
Meta-Search Engines:
Ixquick

Only submits to an engine if it
supports search operators you
used
Allows +, -, “ ”, etc. with good results

“Highlighted Result” helpful for
spotting your words in pages it
found
76
Meta-search Engines
Vivisimo
vivisimo.com
Searches 15 keyword search
engines
 “Clustering” feature can be helpful

Example: lions cats
77
Meta-Search Engines: Vivisimo

Advanced Search…
Pick which search engines it searches
Many of the common search
operators available (+, -, “ ”, etc.)
78
Meta-search Engines
Ask Jeeves
www.askjeeves.com
“Natural language” searching
 Especially useful for searching on a
question

Example:
How do I make a basic electronic circuit?
79
Meta-search Engines
Mamma
www.mamma.com

Easy to use
Enter words that relate to what you
want (the more the better)
“Natural language” searching

Even questions w/ question mark at the
end
80
Meta-search Engines:
Mamma

Doesn’t give you thousands of hits
Example:
Where can I find information on alternative
renewable energy?

“Power Search” additional options
Pick which search engines

Up to 7 “free”; can skip 5 “pay per click”
81
Meta-search Engines:
Mamma

Can use + or Example:
+alternative +energy -hydroelectric
82
Meta-search Engines
MetaCrawler
www.metacrawler.com
Searches 11 keyword search
engines (select in Advanced
Search)
 May return more hits than Mamma
 Can use +, -, “ ”

83
Meta-search Engines
Dogpile
www.dogpile.com

Searches 14 keyword engines
(select in Advanced Search)
Including Google!

Groups results by keyword engine
Example: renewable energy

Very popular
84
So Many Tools… Which One
Should I Use?
Choose the Best Search for Your Information
Need
www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/
information/5locate/adviceengine.html


Helps you decide, based on the kind of
information or kind of search you have
in mind
Search tools to access “the invisible
web”
Databases not usually searched by general
(“visible Web”) search tools
85
… Which One Should I Use?
Specialized Search Engines and Directories
webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/specialized.html



More tools to search databases for
specific kinds of information
Select based on what kind of
information you need
Designed to help students in Webquests
From Bernie Dodge, SDSU
86
Evaluating Web Pages
Evaluation guide from UCLA Library
www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college
/help/critical/index.htm

A lot to hold in your head as you
consider a Web page
87
Evaluating Web Pages
Steve Grant’s “Evaluation Short List”
 Is this the kind of information I
need?
“On target” for my topic? Really
relevant?
Readable? Can I understand it?
88
Evaluating Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”

Sufficient? Enough to be useful?
Merely a list of links or does it have
content itself?
Just a “sampler” or in-depth?

New information? Anything I don’t
already know or have from another
source?
89
Evaluating Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”

Who is the intended audience?
What’s the purpose of this page?
What other pages link to this one?

To find out, use Google’s (Advanced
Search) “linked to:”
90
Evaluting Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”

Who wrote it? Why should I
believe them?
If they quote/cite other sources, do
they cite them so I could find them?

If Web sources, should be a hyperlink
91
Evaluting Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”
Author’s job title or credentials?
 What else has he/she written?

Try keyword search on author’s name
(HotBot recommended)

Contact information for author?
Email hyperlink?
Snailmail &/or phone?
92
Evaluating Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”

Is page associated with reputable
institution?
Well-known/respected organization?


University, publisher, government, etc.
Does the information seem biased?
If so, can I still use it?
93
Evaluating Web Pages:
Steve Grant’s “Short List”

How current is this page?
Look for date created or revised
Do all its hyperlinks work?

Spelling or grammar errors?
94
Citing Web Pages in MLA Style
Winsor’s “Citing Sources” style guide
www.winsor.edu/pages/library.cfm
Click “Using the Internet”, then
“Citing Sources”
 Easy “one-stop shopping” for most
kinds of information sources (print
& Web)

95
Citing Web Pages:
Winsor’s “Citing Sources”

Guide for Web pages doesn’t quite
match new (1999) MLA official
style [Gibaldi]
Uses “Dated” & “Viewed”
Uses “( )” instead of “<>” for URLs
Without “Dated”, “Viewed”, and with
“<>”: probably OK for some high
school projects
96
Citing Web Pages in MLA Style
“A Guide for Writing Research Papers...”
style guide
webster.commnet.edu/mla/index.shtml
Both print and electronic sources
 Websites:

Point at “Citing Sources”
Point & click on “Electronic Resources /
Internet”
97
Citing Web Pages:
“A Guide for Writing...”
Scroll past numbered list to
“Scholarly Project”, “Professional
Site”, “Personal Site”
 In-line citations as well as Works
Cited (bibliography): scroll farther
to “In-text Citation”

98
Citing Web Pages:
“A Guide for Writing...”

Harder to use, but more thorough
and correct
Matches MLA official style [Gibaldi]
Must use for college & AP-level work
99
Citing Web Pages in MLA Style
Citation Styles--Online! style guide
www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/
citex.html
Online sources only (no print)
 Clear and MLA-correct
 Also includes APA & Chicago styles

100
Citing Web Pages: Online!
Bibliography entries...
click “1. World Wide Web site”
 In-line citation help…
Scroll all the way to top

or
Click “Back”, then top “MLA Style”
box
 Ideal for AP/college
101
Citing Web Pages in MLA Style
NoodleBib
www.NoodleTools.com

Subscription… but worth it!
$300/year (school/district 1,0004,000 students)
All print and electronic sources
 Interactive: builds bibliography for
you!

102
Citing Web Pages: NoodleBib

Complies with latest MLA style
Now also includes APA
You fill out fields, it generates
finished citation
 Correct formatting & punctuation!
 Excellent notations explain each
field

103
Citing Web Pages: NoodleBib
Save as Text file to your disk and
add/edit later (using NoodleBib)
 Save as RTF to open in Word (add
to your research paper)

104
Citing Web Pages in MLA Style
easybib.com
www.easybib.com
 Interactive bibliography generator
 Free (MLA style only)
APA requires $5/yr. Account

Online & print sources
105
Citing Web Pages: EasyBib

Saves bib. for you on Website
(NoodleBib: local drive)
Have to load by entering 19-character
“number”


Write down or have emailed to you
Print directly from Web
106
Citing Web Pages: EasyBib

Not as thorough or clear as
NoodleBib
Esp. difficult for online databases that
are not magazines or newspapers
Prob. OK for simple,
straightforward sources
 Advertising

107
Steps in the Research Process

Define and narrow the search
problem… what exactly are you
looking for?
Identify keywords and concepts...
“names for what you want”

Try “graphic organizer” techniques to
help discover useful terms
108
Research Process Steps:
Define & Narrow
…Identify keywords/concepts (cont’d)

Graphic organizer techniques:
www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/
actbank/torganiz.htm
Recommended: “Clustering” (also called
“Concept Mapping”)
 Concept maps explained:
http://www.graphic.org/concept.html

109
Research Process Steps:
Define & Narrow
…Identify keywords/concepts (cont’d)

Try Inspiration software
www.inspiration.com
– Quickly draw “concept map” (cluster) as you
brainstorm terms
– Builds an outline in background while you
work!
110
Research Process Steps

Identify Web search tools you’ll
use
Use “Help” or “Tips” for each tool to
learn its particular syntax or
techniques
111
Research Process Steps

(Consider online databases your
school/public library subscribes to)
Usually avail. via the Web

Request login from library in person
Often quicker to high-quality info.

(Consider library’s online catalog to find
books)
Reference books w/ great info. may not
show up!… Ask librarian to show you some
112
Research Process Steps

Conduct your searches using
careful search strategies
What keywords will zero in on exactly
what you want?
What keywords will exclude what you
don’t want? (NOT or -)
Should you use a phrase? (“ ”)
Should you capitalize?
113
Research Process Steps

Evaluate hits and refine search as
necessary
Relevant to what I need?
Sufficiently current?
Reliable? Should I believe it’s true?
Understandable and clear?
114
Research Process Steps
Try other search tools if necessary
 Save/print only pages you’ve
studied enough to know they’re
truly useful

Save money! Save time!
Note URL & date for each page
115
Research Process Steps

Analyze the information
Read each page thoroughly
What does it emphasize?
 What information does it contain that the
others don’t?

Underline/highlight on hardcopies
116
Research Process Steps

Take notes on all original pages
“Put away” originals & work from
notes from now on!
Avoid plagiarism
 Usually faster than trying to rewrite
worse from originals… really!
 Easier to organize notes than full text
documents
 Understand the information better

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Research Process Steps

Organize notes logically
Group similar notes together
Arrange so information flows in a
logical progression

Explains
and

Supports ...what you want to say
May want to write an outline here
118
Research Process Steps

Reach your own conclusions
With all the information you’re
presenting...
What’s your point?

Create or refine your theme
statement
Usually expressed at the beginning of
your paper or presentation
119
Research Process Steps

Write your paper / speaking notes
/ presentation slides
From notes, not original documents!
Remember the advantages:
Avoid plagiarism
 Understand the information better

120
Research Process Steps

Cite your sources
Create a bibliography (“Works Cited”)
page or screen
Use MLA style (unless teacher
specifies another)

APA, Chicago, Turabian, etc.
121
Research Process Steps

Evaluate your work
Enough (length, depth)?
Too long or in-depth?
 Unnecessary elements you should delete?

Clear and smooth? No spelling or
grammatical errors?
122
Research Process Steps

Is it the best you can do?
If not, why?
Ran out of time?
 Not important enough to do your best?

How could you do better next time?
123
Works Cited
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers. 5th ed. New York: Modern Language
Association, 1999. [to Winsor] [to A Guide for Writing…]
Leita, Carol. InfoPeople Search Tools Chart. 3 Nov. 2000.
InfoPeople Project. 11 Nov. 2000.
<http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html> [to Yahoo]
[to Librs’] [to AcadInfo] [to Infomine] [to AltVist] [to Google] [to
Teoma] [to AlltheWeb] [to HotBot]
Lyman, Peter et. al. How Much Information? 2000.
University of California at Berkeley. 11 Nov. 2000.
<http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/how-muchinfo/internet.html> [to How Big]
124
Works Cited (cont’d)
Morrison, Janice. “Teaching Kids to Surf the Internet Without
Wiping Out: What Teachers Need to Know About
Information Literacy.” Fall CUE 2002. Computer Using
Educators. Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento. 25
Oct. 2002. [to Why?]
“Part 1: The Size of the Internet.” Tutorial: Guide to
Effective Searching on the Internet. 2000.
BrightPlanet.com. 11 Nov. 2000.
<http://www.completeplanet.com/Tutorials/Search/part
1.asp>
[to 2500 Search Tools]
125