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Information
Literacy
Beyond Surfing -
Index
or Subject/Topic Search Engines/Subject Directories:
Best used for
browsing subjects and finding quality web sites.
Internet
Public Library,
Librarians Index to the Internet,
and Open Directory
Someone has searched
the Internet, located the resources, evaluated them and classified
them. Although these give you only a handful of sites, subject directories
are a good place to start.
Word
or Database Search Engines: Best used for finding specific
sites or specific information.
AltaVista,
Google, and HotBot
These use software called
bots or spiders that follow links from page to page, indexing all
or part of the contents of each page as they go, gathering words
and collecting them into a database. These indexes can be searched.
When you search using a search engine, you arenŐt searching the
web - you are searching the index of web pages collected containing
the same string of characters you have just typed in.The documents
are retrieved randomly and are not organized. For more information
regarding how different search engines work look at Search
Engine Watch.
Hints: Use more than one when searching, look at the advanced option
for searching, if you donŐt find something within the first 25 hits
you need to broaden or narrow your search.
Combination
or Meta-search Engines: Best
used for comparing results from different search engines and directories.
Metacrawler,
DogPile, and
Search.com
These do not create or
reference any databases, they simply combine the searches of many
different search engines so that you get more of a sampling of information.
Note which particular search engines each use.
Portals:
Best used for finding the most popular types of information (weather,
stocks, entertainment, etc.)
Yahoo!,
Excite, and Lycos
Portals attempt to provide
everything you could possibly need so you don't go anywhere else.
The advertisers are counting on this. Portals are designed for the
general public not for academic searching. Most include a basic
search engine as well as a search directory.
Deep Web:
The Invisible Web Information stored in searchable databases for
non-textual information. These databases usually search a targeted
topic. These files are usually in pdf format (printable document
format). Many search engines have separate options for locating
these files. Some databases can be found at Invisibleweb.
Interesting
Sites: Kartoo.com,
KidsClick!,
Vivísimo, Teoma,
SurfWax, and Yahooligans.
Kartoo uses webbing to relate different subject areas, KidsClick
is organized using the Dewey Decimal System, Visísimo uses
clustering, and SurfWax, Teoma, and Yahooligans are organized for
students to use.
How to find what
you want.
Brainstorming or webbing
words or ideas is a great way to start.
Write down general ideas
and subject areas. Determine exactly what it is you want to be find
and jot down terms to either narrow or broaden your search. Once
you have decided exactly what you want to find out you can develop
a "Search String," exactly what you are going to type
into the search field. You might want to think about keywords you
would use to broaden (make more general) or narrow (make more specific)
your search.
Rules to remember when
developing your search string:
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Avoid
common words such as ''a,'' ''the,''
etc.
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Put
specific phrases in quotations. Use singular rather than plural
forms of words.
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Use
as many specific words in the search phrase as you can.
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Use multiple spellings and synonyms.
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Use
capital letters if searching for capitalized words, otherwise
always use lower case letters.
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Use
Boolean operators such as AND, OR, NOT, to restrict search.
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Use
Terminal or End Truncation (shortening a word and putting
* at the end) Example educa* for education, educational, educator,
etc.
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Use
Internal Truncation (wom#n for women and woman).
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Use
nesting - using parentheses to control the search (television
OR mass media) AND violence.
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Use
subject and keyword searching - ''new deal'' AND Roosevelt
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Making sense of the
Boolean Search Strategy: Boolean
Search Information
How to evaluate the
tons of information you find:
Remember the following:
Anyone can publish anything
on the web.
A complete list of Web sites does not exist.
There are no offical organizers or evaluators for information on
the web.
Sites constantly change: sites appear and disappear.
There are no standards for Web search tools.
Never assume that it is faster to use the web, that the information
is more current on the web, or that the information is reliable.
Look for Accuracy, Authority,
Objectivity, Currency, and Coverage.
Site for all to evaluate:
The Pacific Northwest
Octopus or Google
Job Opportunities
Historical
Events
Cyndi's
List
Historical
Timeline
Citing source from
the Internet -
MLA
Note:When creating a
works cited page always list entries alphabetically and double-spaced.
Do not number the entries. The first line of each entry is flush
with the left margin and each line after that is indented five spaces.
Do not put a period after the Access Date or the name of a periodical.
Underline titles. Abbreviate all months except May, June and July.
| Professional
or Personal Web Site (5.9.2) |
Creator's name, if given. Web Page Title. Update date.
Institution or organization.
Access date <URL>.
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Allen, Shirley. Portuguese Language Page. 4 Apr. 2001.
University of Chicago.
10 Jan 2002 <http://humanities.uchicago.edu>.
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Author, if given. ''Article Title.'' Web Page Title.
Update date. Version number.
Sponsoring organization. Date of access <URL>.
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''Fresno.'' Britannica On-Line. Vers. 97.1.1. Mar.
1997. Encyclopedia Britannica.
29 Mar. 1997 <http://www.ebcom:180>.
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| Work
from Subscription Service (5.9.7a) |
''Original Article Title.'' Original Source Title
Publication information. Date: Page #s.
Database, if known. Name of service. Name of subscribing
library.
Date of access <URL>.
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Koretz, Gene. ''Economic Trends.'' Business Week 21
July 2001: 22. Electric Library.
La Salle H.S. Lib., Milwaukie, OR. 10 Dec. 2001 <http://www.elibrary.com>.
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Freeman, Mary Ann. ''Writing for Readers.'' Atlantic Monthly
Dec. 2000 : 16-59.
MASUltra. Ebsco. La Salle H.S. Lib., Milwaukie,
OR. 10 Dec. 2001
<http://search.epnet.com>.
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| Image
from the web |
''Name of image.'' Type of Image. Web Site
Title. Update date. Date of access <URL>.
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''Apples.'' Graphic. Apple Web Images. 24 July 2003.
16 Sept. 2003
<http://www.apples.com>.
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EBSCO
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