Transcript Internet Toolkit

Internet Toolkit
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HOW TO USE THE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH
STRATEGY
(SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN: SHELLY
AND ROSENBLATT)
Introduction
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 The Internet is a worldwide network that integrates
many thousands of other networks, which in turns
link millions of
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Government
Business
Educational
Personal
 users around the globe.
Purpose
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 The Internet can assist you in your daily work by
helping you solve technical problems and in the
ongoing development of your career by providing
access to
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Training
And professional education
Web
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 The internet allows access to the World Wide Web,
which refers to the global collection of electronic
documents stored on the Internet
 These documents are referred to as Web pages
 They are organized and stored on Web sites
Research Strategy
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 Should use a four-step approach:
 Review your information requirements
 Use the proper search tools and techniques
 Evaluate the results
 Consider copyright and data integrity issues
 To prepare for the Internet search:
 Use a check list to identify key terms
 Phrases
 Characteristics of the topic
Research Tools
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 Search Engines
 Subject directories
 Collection of searchable database resources called
the invisible Web
Search Results
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 A search engine uses keywords and phrases to locate
information on the Internet
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List the results of the search.
 Be aware: the results can be affected if the search
engine permits commercial users to achieve higher
priority based on payment of fees.
 Also, search engines access only a portion of the
Internet:
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Meta-search engines are tools that can apply multiple search
engines simultaneously!
Summary
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 The Internet offers a wealth of information about
every conceivable subject
 BUT without a good roadmap, it is easy to become
overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material
 So we have to use resources to formulate an effective
information gathering strategy and tools to access
the information we need.
Search Strategy
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Review your information requirements
2. Use proper search tools and techniques
3. Evaluate the results
4. Consider copyright and data integrity issues
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Review Your Information Requirements
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 Understand WHAT you are seeking (Understand the
problem)
 Think about the TOPIC to ensure that you are
casting an appropriate NET
 Example: Understand the topic before you
comparing specific ‘products’. Compare OBE
(Learner centered) to Traditional Education (Subject
knowledge)
 Start with a more generalized search instead of going
directly to ‘vendor’ sites.
Use the proper search tools and techniques
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 The more you use them, the more expertise you will
acquire
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Search engine
Subject directory
Invisible Web
Commercial sites
IT publications
Professional associations
Newsgroups
Etc.
Evaluate the results
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 Essentially the Internet is open and unregulated:
 Quality of content varies greatly
 Unlike published journals or textbooks, almost
anyone can post content, or material, on the Web
 Conclusion: The searcher must review the
information very carefully:
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Source
Accuracy
Scope
Currency
Look and Feel
Evaluation: continued
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 Source:
 identify the source
 Does the author have expertise on the subject
 Trace through the URL’s biographical information
 Make a separate search on the author’s name
 Accuracy:
 Is the information bias? Commercial source….
 Identifying biases and finding information from a variety of
sources
Continued:
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 Scope:
 Look for specific information
 Narrow and refine your search
 Seek additional resources until you locate the information
 Search engine: perform a sub search using the results of the
initial search
 Currency:
 How old is the information
 Is the topic static or dynamic. In the IT world, technology
changes very quickly
Continued:
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 Look and Feel:
 Is the information easy to access and navigate
 Is the site designed in a logical manner and offers value-added
links to worthwhile pages and resources
 NOTE: If you find the information useful, be sure to
credit the source properly when you use it!!
 You must observe legal and ethical standards when
you deal with Internet material
Consider Copyright and Data Integrity Issues
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 Ensure that you can legally use the material
 Look for copyright notices and restrictions
 Protect your network and PC from viruses or malware:
http://mastdb3.macafee.com
Search Basics
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 Search engine
 Is an application that uses keywords and phrases to locate
information on the Internet
 Meta-search engines are tools that can apply multiple search
engines simultaneously
 Warning:
 Search results can be affected if the search engine permits
commercial users to achieve higher priority based on payment
of fees
 Search engines only access a portion of the Internet
Basics
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 Subject Directory
 Is a Web site that allows you to find information by using a
hierarchy , starting with a general heading and proceeding to
more specific topics
 Its an excellent starting point for an overview of a topic, before
proceeding to specific Web sites
 Invisible Web
 Vast collection of documents, databases, and Web pages that
are usually not detected by search engines.
 Can be accessed using other tools and techniques
Search Engine
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 Uses a specialized computer program called a
spider or crawler that travels from site to site
indexing or cataloging the contents of the pages
based on keywords.
 The results re compiled into a database , so when you
search the Net, you are actually searching the
content of the search engine’s database
 No single search engine can catalog the shifting
contents of the Web
Search engine
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 Although the indexes are incomplete, they are
capable of delivering an overwhelming number of
results or hits.
 Quality vs. Quantity: Search engines allow
commercial sites to boosts their ranking in a pay for
performance arrangement.
 Links that are subsidized by companies are
sponsored links.
Search engine
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 Google: rank their pages by analyzing the number of
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other sites that link to that page
Ask.com: ExpertRank technology, which rank a site
based on the number of authoritative sites that
references it
Approach: click the About tab on the search site
scsite.com/sad8e/more
Indexed Engines: Google, Yahoo! And AltaVista
Meta Search Engine
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 They apply multiple search engines simultaneously
 They provide broader coverage
 Ixquick, Metacrawler, Dogpile
Search Techniques
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 Consider the following techniques:
 Refine your topic: limit the scope of your search
 Translate your question into an effective search query. Choose
the proper keywords: hard drive
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Try to find unique words or phrases and avoid those with
multiple meanings
Review the search results and evaluate the quality
Organize the results of your search, so you can recognize and
revisit important sites. Create favorites or bookmarks
 http://lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Interne
t/Glossary.html
Advanced Search Techniques
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 To refine and control the type of information
returned from searches: Boolean Logic
 Is a system that refers to the relationship among
search terms using logical operators:
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OR, AND, NOT
OR
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 It will retrieve all results containing either term
 Usually when you need a wide area search
 Example:
 Rugby OR Soccer
AND
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 It will retrieve only those results in which all terms
are linked by the AND operator
 This will narrow a set of search results
 Example:
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Rugby AND Soccer
NOT
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 To exclude certain records
 Example:
 Internet NOT Web
 The search will return those pages with the term Internet
Examples:
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 A or B or C
 Example: Kimberley or Mining or Diamonds
 A and B and C
 Example: Kimberley and Mining and Diamonds
 A and B not C
 Example: Kimberley and Mining not Diamonds
 You are searching for a board game that will force
you to use strategy: (like Monopoly)
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strategy and game
Phrase search: “strategy game”. Its more specific than AND
http://archive.library.nyu.edu:8000/research
The Invisible Web
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 Tasks:
 Search for information on “the invisible web”
 Go to CompletePlanet.com
 What is EndNote
Class Exercise:
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 Find informatio0n on the subject “triangulation”
 Create a research paper on this topic using MLA
documentation style