Finding what is needed on the Internet is sometimes the greatest mystery. How do you search to find what you need from the vast amount of information that is on the World Wide Web?
Effective Searching Practices
Alan November describes Effective Search Practices in his handout – I have cut that section out so you can print just that section. effectivesearching-november_0.pdf. Please note: Alta Vista was purchased by Yahoo so some things have changed in the searching handout. For a Saskatchewan version, please download: effectivesearchin-skversion
Have students think critically about their research problem. What is it that they need to find out? What format will best meet student needs (videos, images, text, interviews)? What search tools will help them find the type of information they need (database, primary documents, regualr search engines)?
2. Use advanced search techniques.
Use SPECIFIC key words correctly in a query string. Make sure students understand Boolena Operators (AND, OR, NOT – must be used in ALL CAPS with space on each side) as well as addtional operators such as +, -, ” “. Google has lessons to help develop students’ ability to search effectively.
.org – organization
.com – company
.sch – school (used outside of US)
.k12 – most but not all US schools
.edu – US higher education (http://www.usask.edu/ is redirected to http://www.usask.ca/)
.gov – US government (add country code for outside US)
.ac – academic (higher ed outside US, usually used with country code, i.e. “ac.uk”
.net – network
You can search using the host: command within Google (i.e. “cancer research” + host:gov) and you can extend that to search and narrow results for a particular domain name, country, and so forth. Going global with host: command searches enables your students to see the difference in search results based on the “perspective of that country” and not just the top ten results that they might get from a simple Google search!
How would you search for a list of of websites of all academic insitutions in South Africa? Go to Google and then type host:ac.za. What about engineering in South African academic institutions (host:ac.za + engineering)?
3. Use advanced and more specialized search engines.
What is the difference between a search engine and a directory? What role do real humans play in directories? When should one use Mashepedia instead of Google? Consider using the same search query in two search engines or directories to see what is different about the results.
The Internet offers access to many resources but some of them can be of questionable quality. You and your students should learn critical evaluation skills to assess the quality of an Internet resource.