Transcript Online Research Powerpoint

How to Locate and
Evaluate Digital
Resources
Are you an effective online
researcher?
Many people know a lot
about technology but
NOT a lot about how to
search online!
Do I know how to be a good,
efficient searcher?
1.
2.
Am I using the
best source?
What do I know
about Internet
research?
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Search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing)
Gathering information
Website Evaluation– treasure or trash?
Crediting sources (avoiding plagiarism
– no copying)
Organizing
Synthesizing info (putting it together)
Presenting what you have learned
Electronic Searching
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
OR
No results at
all??
Keyword searching
 Powerful
if done correctly.
 Very fast.
 Used with search engines on the
Internet.
The Big Mistake
Usually, people use
search terms that
are too broad. This
will produce too
many results that
are not relevant to
your topic.
Keywords
You must provide a word or set of words
that will enable a computer to find
matches, or “hits.”
Example:
What are the effects, if any, of
television violence on children?
Keywords: effects
television violence
children
Phrase Searching
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VERY USEFUL searching TIP!!!
Using quotation marks “two words” tell the
computer to look for two or more words
together:
“television violence”
“acid rain”
“Red River Valley”
“Red River Valley of the North”
The results will only include pages with the
same words in the same order as what's inside
the quotes.
Remove or Connect Words
Remove words
When you use a dash before a word or site, it
excludes results that include that word or site. This is
useful for words with multiple meanings, like Jaguar
the car brand and jaguar the animal.
Examples: jaguar speed -car and pandas -
site:wikipedia.org
Connect words
When the dash is in between multiple words, Google
will know the words are strongly connected.
Example: twelve-year-old dog
Operators
Search operators are words that can be added to
searches to help narrow down the results. You can
also use the Advanced Search page to create these
searches.
site:
Get results from certain sites or domains. For example, you can find
all mentions of "olympics" on the NBC website or any specific website
like .edu, .gov, .org
Examples: olympics site:nbc.com OR olympics site:.gov
OR
If you want to search for pages that may have just one of several words,
include OR (capitalized) between the words. Without the OR, your results
would typically show only pages that match both terms.
Example: world cup location 2014 OR 2018
A search string is one word or a string of words that
you ask a Search Engine to use so it can find that
specific piece of information online.
Some Search String
Strategies...
What it does...
chocolate chips
Searches for websites that contain
either chocolate or chips.
+chocolate+chips
Searches for websites that contain
both words. Be sure there is no space
between the plus sign and the word.
"chocolate chips"
Searches for websites that have both
words, found right next to each other.
"chocolate chips"-cookies
Searches for websites that contain
the phrase "chocolate chips" but do
not contain the word "cookies".
OR
Why do we need to evaluate
web sources?
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Virtually any person can
publish almost anything on
the Internet.
Unlike most print sources,
web sources do not have to
be professionally accepted
and edited to be published.
Before clicking on the link, look to see if
it is a personal page. Check out the
domain name or the “dots”:
.gov = Hosted by a U.S. government agency
.com = For-profit business, personal sites
.edu = Educational organization
.org = Nonprofit organization
.net = Hosted by a network
.biz = Business site (newer than .com)
.ac = Academic organization (outside the
United States)
~ = personal webpage
Try the C.A.R.S.
evaluation checklist:
C – Credibility
A – Accuracy
R – Reasonableness
S – Support
Credibility
o Who is the author?
o What are the author’s credentials – experience,
education, training – in the field related to this
information?
o Has the author provided contact information?
o Appearance of site – looks professional,
pictures and/or graphics, organized, neat
Anonymous information, misspellings, faulty
links, messy appearance
Accuracy
o When was this material compiled or created, and
when was it presented? Is it recent?
o Is this a comprehensive presentation of the
thinking and the facts related to this topic?
o For whom and for what purpose (advocacy,
information, persuasion) is this information
intended?
Out-of-date or undated information, expired links,
inaccurate or overly generalized information, biased
information
Reasonableness
Does this author argue points fairly and
dispassionately?
o Is the material presented objectively, or is it
slanted and bias?
o Does the information make sense, given what I
know of the world? Is it believable?
o Does the information contradict itself?
Manipulative or emotional language, one-sided
information, a conflict of interest between the
source and the objectivity of the information.
Support
o Has the author provided documentation –a
bibliography (list of works or resources) for
this information?
o Can you find at least two other sources that
support the data presented?
Lack of documentation of claims, information that
contradicts other reliable sources of information,
positions on issues that you already know to be faulty.
Test
Using the CARS method, evaluate
the following websites:
Additional Information to remember –
Cite your sources, clip art, photos. Give
credit where credit is due!
You can find sites online that will cite
sources for you –
http://www.easybib.com
http://www.citationmaker.com/
Review – Putting it all
Together
When searching the Internet, use keyword searches to
access the fastest, most relevant results.
Look at the “dots.” What type of webpage is it?
Use the C.A.R.S method to evaluate the page –
Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Sources
Document your information.
Use safety and good, ole’ common sense when
working or playing online.