IST 561 Spring 2007--Session7, Sources of Information

Sources of information

March 23, 2009IST 561Denise A. Garofalo

Overview

� Discuss lab 6� Online research

� Tools� Strategies

� Information resource sources

Lab experiences

Online Research ToolsSearch Engines

� Ex: www.altavista.com, www.google.com www.yahoo.com

� Click “search” or “submit” or hit “enter”

Web-based program that allows users to submit key term requests to an online database

� Click “search” or “submit” or hit “enter” � Results listed in decreasing relevance � Choosing Keywords

� phrases need double quotes (“) � to refine search combine multiple keywords

� Advanced Search Features � help refine searches by file type, Boolean operations, file

creation date etc

Online Research Tools (cont’d…)

Search Engines misc. (cont’d…).

� portals

� knowbots

Customizable Web pages consolidating features such as: email, news, calendar etc.

Computer programs used by search engines and designed to crawl from one Web page to another through links on each Web page,

� site notification

another through links on each Web page, gathering keywords or whole pages as they go.

A method of submitting your Web site or Web page to a search engine so that it will be recorded in its database


Search Engines (cont’d…)� Pros and Cons

� searches a large number of sites, sometimes too many� web designers must identify their own data� keywords and description metatags� keywords and description metatags

� http://www.submitcorner.com/Guide/Meta/keywords.shtml

HTML/XHTML tags used to identify the potential contents of a page for search engines


� Directory Outlines

� Web pages are indexed by humans

� Bibliographic Databases

A search tool that contains a list of topics that can be browsed and searched ranging from general to specific

Reference collections to research materials such as journals and books

� Often a fee involved, but libraries pay for access� Pros – give quality academic resources, can be full text� Cons-- rely on humans for indexing, may be out of date

� Site-Specific Search Engines and Site-Maps

� Pros and Cons � results are limited but specific

Reference collections to research materials such as journals and books

Search only the data on a Web site Outlines of a site’s layout


� Subject-Specific Search Engines & Directory Outlines

� Pros good for specific data � Cons may not be as comprehensive as advertised

� Metasearch Engines

Search interface that emerged in 1996 that seek out the data stored on many different Web sites about a particular topic or theme

� Metasearch Engines

� Pros and Cons� simple searches are effective, complicated ones may not be � only produces the top 5% to 15% from each search engine � can be untimely but are good for preliminary searches

� Topic Rings

� Generally are not searchable but helpful for browsing

� http://dir.webring.com/rw

Meta-engines, search engines that submit a key-term to several search engines, consolidating the results.

Webring. One in a series of Web sites with a common theme


� Searching for Jobs� Job boards and job search engines� Examples: http://www.jobbankinfo.org/,

http://www.jobs.com, http://www.dice.com

� Searching for People� Email addresses http://www.emailfinder.com� Mailing addresses / white pages

http://www.whitepages.com/� Personal Information pay services that give more

personal information � Reverse telephone number lookup

http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/

General Reference List of…

Searching Strategies

� Initiating a search � Pick the right tool for the job � Pick good keywords--don’t be lazy � Phrase your questions precisely

� Refining a search� Use Boolean operators and wildcard characters

� Boolean operators

� AND, OR, NOT, NEAR, *, ?, #, !

Terms used to manage the logical operations of the search engine

Finding Software

� Software Review Sites <reviews.cnet.com/software/>

� Freeware <www.tucows.com>Sites detailing how specific software functions

Free software programs� Shareware <www.shareware.com/>

Free software programs

Titles that allow you limited usage or usability until you purchase the full version

Open Source Licensing � Programs are written in code such as C++ or Java� Open Source

Source code is available and can be modified and improved

File Compression � Reducing the size of a file or combining several files into

one� .zip or .exe� WinZip http://www.winzip.com/

File Compression

Watching search engines

� SearchEngineWatch� http://searchenginewatch.com

� Search Engine Showdown� http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/

�Web Search Guide� http://www.websearchguide.ca/

� WebSerch� http://www.clubi.ie/webserch/

Searching

�Guide to effective searching of the Internet� http://brightplanet.com/component/content/article/1

12.html

�Better Googling� http://www.sreetips.com/google.html

�Soople http://soople.com/� Internet Searching Tools

� http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/

Questions?

General Reference Sources

� Almanacs� Dictionaries� Encyclopedias� Encyclopedias

General Reference Sites� Infoplease

� http://www.infoplease.com/

� FactMonster� http://www.factmonster.com/

� American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed)� American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed)� http://www.bartleby.com/61/

� Merriam-Webster collegiate dictionary� http://www.m-w.com/

� Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.)� http://www.bartleby.com/65/

Other general resources

� Homework� News� Quotations� Quotations� Writing papers� Telephone directories

Other general resource sites� KidInfo

� http://www.kidinfo.com/SchoolSubjects.html

� HeadlineSpot� http://headlinespot.com/

� Quotations page� Quotations page� http://www.theotherpages.org/quote.html

� A+� http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/

� 411.com� http://www.411.com

More specialty resources

� Cars� Home repair� Sports� Sports� Travel� Entertainment

Specialty resource examples� Kelley Blue Book

� http://www.kbb.com/

� Handyman USA� http://www.handymanusa.com/

� Yahoo sports� Yahoo sports� http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/sports/

� Lonely Planet� http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

� Yahoo entertainment� http://entertainment.yahoo.com/

Other Resource Examples

�Find-a-Grave� ��

�TerraServer� ��

�LifeLines� ��

�HomeTownFreePress� ��

More Specific Examples

� Sports Network� ��

� Weather Underground��

� Parenting� ��

� Instrument Encyclopedia� ��

Specific topical resources

� Law� http://www.lectlaw.com/files/fun19.htm� http://www.lectlaw.com/files/fun12.htm� http://overlawyered.com/archives/cat_tech.� http://overlawyered.com/archives/cat_tech.

html� http://www.stellaawards.com/� http://www.dmoz.org/Society/Law/Legal_In

formation/� http://lii.org/pub/htdocs/search?search=law

;action=show;searchtype=keywords

Specific Topical Resources

� Job and Career Information� ��

��

� �� !��

� ��

� http://www.volunteer.gov/gov/

Consumer Medical Sources

� As with legal topics� Provide patron the resource not advice� Librarians aren’t doctors; don’t diagnose

� Abundant sources, both good and not-so-good

Sources for Consumer Health

� Health A to Z� http://www.healthatoz.com/

� Consumer health� http://www.consumer.gov/health.ht

� Drug Info� http://druginfo.nlm.nih.gov/drugportal/d

rugportal.jsp

Business Resources

� For public libraries, highlighting these can help bring support from business communityFor academic and special libraries, � For academic and special libraries, supports the broader user community

� For school libraries, can help high school students and staff

Sources for Business Resources

� SBA� http://app1.sba.gov/hotlist/default.cfm

� Business Resources� http://www.educationindex.com/bus/

Other resources

�Many other subject areas �What a library needs to gather

depends on users’ needsdepends on users’ needs�Can organize with

bookmarks/favorites or…� http://www.mybookmarks.com/� http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/� http://delicious.com/

Sources for Other Resources

� InfoMine� http://infomine.ucr.edu/

� Intutehttp://www.intute.ac.uk/� http://www.intute.ac.uk/

� Direct Search� http://www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm

Other Sources

�Best Info on the Net� http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/

�Newsroom Navigator�Newsroom Navigator� http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/technology/

cybertimesnavigator/index.html�Librarians’ Internet Index

� http://lii.org/

Questions?

IST 561 Spring 2007--Session7, Sources of Information

Technology

Transcript of IST 561 Spring 2007--Session7, Sources of Information