How to Search the WebA SUNY Adirondack Library Tutorial

This tutorial offers simple approaches to Web

searching and evaluation.

Take a few minutes now to save hours of

searching later!

First: some quick Web basics:

The World Wide Web is an interconnected network of computers around the world.

No group controls the quality of Web sites. Checking Web information is your job!

Valuable, credible information: research, statistics, health news, financial data from governments and educational groups;

Hobby and personal information, by individuals;

Commercial advertising from companies;

Inaccurate, offensive information, rantings, opinions presented as facts, child pornography, stolen music, etc.

Much information is on the Web…

So…is everything on the Web??

NO! No one publishing medium contains all information in the world: not books, TV, radio, films, or the Web!

By far, most

information in the world is NOT on the Web.

It’s often best to use Web sites after using books and articles, which are usually fact-checked by experts.

Learn about your subject in reliably credible sources first, so you can evaluate Web sites better!

When to use the Web in research:

Free vs. subscription Web sites:

Just like with network and cable TV, there are free and paid or subscription Web sites. You often get what you pay for!

This tutorial discusses ways to search for the best free Web sites.

Students have free access to subscription Web sites (such as article databases) on the SUNY Adirondack Library’s Web page.

1) Who created the page?2) How current is it?3) Does it show a bias or

limited point of view?

4) Is it accurate?

Let’s go through these questions to evaluate Web pages:

1) Who created the Web page?

Who is the author or producer?

Are credentials or contact information given?

If published by an organization, is any background given?

Is it the group’s official site?

The last part of a Web address may tell you who created the site: ◦ .com (for-profit company; about 50% of

addresses), ◦ .gov (U.S. federal government), ◦ .edu (college or university), ◦ .org (non-profit organization), ◦ .net (network) and ◦ .mil (military).

Two-letter country (.us) or state (.ny) addresses are also used.

New Web address endings are being added:.biz .museum .info .pro …and many others.

Check the address endings!

2) How current is the Web site?

When was the information produced?

When was it last updated?

Does the currency matter for your subject?

Are the links up-to-date, or do they lead to “dead ends”?

3) Does the Web site have a bias?

Does the site offer facts or opinions?

Are political, cultural or other biases evident?

Does it present all viewpoints, or selected ones?

Is the author trying to sell a product or have other vested interests?

4) What is the Web site’s content?

What is the site’s purpose?

Is it accurate? Does it correspond to research in more reliably credible sources?

Who is the intended audience?

Is it clearly organized and designed well?

Use these approaches in this order to save time and get the best search results:

Recommended Web sites Subject directory Search engine Meta-search engine

Let’s go through each….

Four ways to search the Web:

1) Recommended Web site:This technique is learned

with experience.

Consult textbooks, library research guides and your instructor for suggested Web sites.

Librarians can get you started with a few favorites. They might become your favorites too!

FedStats: http://www.fedstats.gov Federal and state statistics

RefDesk: http://refdesk.com

News, weather, quick facts

BBC News: http://www.bbc.comNews with a British viewpoint

Some Web addresses recommended by SUNY Adirondack librarians:

2) Subject Directory:Subject directories are Web

sites offering: a small, organized collection

of high-quality Web sites. sites chosen by people, not

software.

Use them to find a few good, credible Web sites.

Internet Public Library: http://ipl.org From the University of Michigan.

Infomine: http://infomine.ucr.edu/From librarians at several universities.

(Save these as favorites on your computer!)

Recommended subject directories:

3) Search engines: Search engines search millions or billions of

Web sites by subject, using software.

They’re useful for very specific subject searches, or if you want many, many results.

Search engines Web sites are usually not organized by subject, nor quality-oriented.

It’s a “second generation” search engine, using link popularity and other criteria to find useful sites.

It searches several billion sites.

But if you’re going to Google…

Google remains the most popular search engine…

Do a Google search and then look at the bottom of your result page for the Advanced Search link.

Use it to limit your search results: - ask for exact phrases: “New York”- search within a site or domain: search for just gov or edu or org endings- exclude unwanted words or .com sites - and more!

Use Google’s “Advanced Search”!

There are other search engines!

● No search engine covers all the Web.● Thousands of search engines exist. ● Compare a Google search with these:

Bing – Microsoft’s search engineScirus – scientific information only

For 200+ more search engines, see Search Engines & Web Directories

4) Meta-search engines:

These are search engines that search other search engines.

◦They cull the top results from several search engines.

◦It’s a broad, shallow way to search.

◦Use this method last, to find “needle in a haystack” facts.

MetaCrawlerSurfWaxIxquick

See this Meta-Search Engines page for 90 more.

Examples of meta-search engines:

Thanks for using this tutorial!

At any time, ask a librarian for tips and ideas!

Click to return to theSUNY AdirondackLibrary home

page.

This tutorial was created by SUNY Adirondack Professor of Library Science Joyce Miller.

It was updated in August 2013.