Finding Information on the World Wide Web

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Finding Information on the World Wide Web

• Sandra Pesce, Librarian
• San Diego Miramar College

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What Were Going To Do

• What This tutorial will cover how to find
  information in the part of the Internet known as
  the World Wide Web or WWW. We will call it just
  the Web in this tutorial.
• Why The Web is full of all types of
  information, and can be an overwhelming and
  time-consuming place to search. This tutorial
  will explain some of the tools and techniques
  that can make your searching more efficient and
  effective.
• How Screenshots and active links will guide you
  through the tutorial.
• Whats the World Wide Web? Read on.

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Whats the Web?

• The Web is a global network of computers, which
  is like a spiders web. Your computer connects to
  a wall outlet with a cable (or phone line), which
  then connects to other computers. In all,
  millions of computers are able to talk to each
  other.
• So basically, the Web is a way to communicate
  with other people. But It is different from
  sending files or emails to your friends. The Web
  has the multimedia parts of the Internet, using
  audio and video as well as text.

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Just Another Resource

• Like books, television, radio, and magazines, the
  Web is another resource you can go to for
  information. But its sheer size and disorder
  makes it quite challenging to find good quality
  information. Thats where search tools come into
  play. More on those later.
• The Web is made up of web pages, which can be
  found by their URLs, or Uniform Resource
  Locators (like library books are found with call
  numbers) or by typing descriptive terms (called
  keywords) into certain search tools.
• First, an example of a web site

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An Example of a Web Site
The title of the site appears in the blue bar at
the top of the browser window.
URL is in the address bar of the browser.
Main text of site usually appears down here.
Next, some tools to use
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Search Tools

• Like magnifying glasses and binoculars, search
  tools help us look at things more closely, to see
  details or make a decision.
• When we want to look at certain web pages or look
  up a topic, we use one of the following search
  tools
• Search Engines
• Metasearch Engines
• Search Directories

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Search Engine

• Description
• Strictly a computerized search no humans are
  used to make result lists
• Matches the letters you type into a text box to a
  URL or keyword somewhere in the Web page
• Searches millions of web sites
• Gives you thousands or even millions of results.

Google.com
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Metasearch Engine

• Description
• Strictly a computerized search no humans are
  used to make result lists
• Runs your search through several search engines
  at once, then pulls out the duplicates and gives
  you the top results from each individual engine
• Gives you fewer results than a single search
  engine. These may be more relevant to your topic.

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Search Directory

• Description
• Put together by humans who are subject experts,
  not by a computer program.
• Searches relatively small numbers of sites on the
  Web (only tens of thousands)
• Gives you fewer results, but in greater depth and
  of better quality.

Infomine.com
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Search Tool Look Feel

• Most search tools have a basic set up that looks
  like this,
• with at least one text box to type your search
  into, and a button you click to submit your
  search.
• When typing your search into the text box, keep
  it short, to just a few main words that describe
  your topic.

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Lets Try It!

• Lets try using the search engine, Google.
• First, type www.google.com in the address bar of
  your browser.
• Your next move is to do the following tasks, in
  this order
• Type one or two words of your topic in the text
  box of Google and click the Search button
• Review the list of results
• Refine your search, if necessary
• Select a result to view
• Evaluate and document to finish
• Lets go!

Click icon to get back to this task list
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1. Type Topic and Click Search

• Type a few words of your topic into the text box,
  like animal therapy.
• Click the Google Search button next to the text
  box to start the search.

a
b
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2. Review Search Results
2. Review Search Results

• Note the number of search results (light blue
  bar).
• Look at your list of search results, and see if
  any match your topic.
• Millions of results are too many to look through.
  Lets refine them

c
b
a
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3. Refine Your Search
3. Limit Your Search

• Got too many results? Refining or limiting will
  narrow down the number.
• Add more search terms to your original search, or
  
• Use the Advanced Features link to pick certain
  domains or file types.

a
b
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4. Select a Result
4. Select a Result

• Once you have found a web site title that looks
  interesting, click on the blue hyperlink in the
  list.
• Look over the web site and evaluate whether it
  will work for your topic.

b
a
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Wait! Theres More

• Beware the sites that pop up first in your result
  list. Many of these are sponsored sites that
  paid to be there (like advertising). These sites
  are usually marked as sponsors, so look for the
  markings.
• If youve found a site that looks like it might
  work for your research, do two things before you
  go further
• Evaluate the source
• Document the source
• And heres how

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5. Evaluate Document

• These arent part of the finding process, but
  they are part of the whole research process.
  These answer the question is the stuff you found
  worth putting in your paper?
• Evaluate the source by looking at the 4Cs
  content of the source, credibility of the author,
  currency of the source and clarity of the
  information. See examples.
• Document the source, noting descriptive
  information like author, title, URL and access
  date. Use the style guide preferred by your
  instructor (MLA, APA, etc.). And do this while
  you have the site up in front of you, instead of
  days later when you have to find it again. At the
  very least, bookmark the page to find it later.
• Now its your turn

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Further Information
Choosing the Best Search (NoodleTools)
http//www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/infor
mation/5locate/adviceengine.html Evaluating Web
Pages (UC Berkeley Libraries) http//www.lib.berk
eley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
MLA Documentation (Diana Hacker.com)
http//www.dianahacker.com/resdoc
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Glossary

• Keyword main words that describe a topic found
  on web page or in the source code behind the web
  page. back
• Multimedia having audio and visual components,
  like mp3, streaming video, static graphics,
  animation, and interactivity. back
• Network computers linked to each other via cable
  or wireless connections. back
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL) the address for a
  web site on the Internet. Usually begins with
  http//www back
• Web Page a virtual document on the Internet
  which appears in a browser. back

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Activity

• How much do you remember from this tutorial?
• Match wits with the computer and find out!
• Go to Matching Vocabulary Game
• (Clicking the link will open a new window)
• Have fun!