Lesson Six Researching And The Internet

Lesson SixResearch & The Internet

Lesson Objectives1. To gain an understanding of the advantages

and disadvantages of printed material and internet sources.

2. To gain a working understanding of how the internet works in order to make researching more effective and less frustrating.

3. To introduce very specific and practical resources for researching on the internet.

Evaluating Print vs. Internet Sources

Publication Process

• Print Sources: Traditional print sources go through an extensive publication process that includes editing and article review. The process has fact-checkers, multiple reviewers, and editors to ensure quality of publication.

• Internet Sources: Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can publish a website or electronic document. Most web documents do not have editors, fact-checkers, or other types of reviewers.

Evaluating Print vs. Internet SourcesAuthorship and Affiliations

• Print Sources: Print sources clearly indicate who the author is, what organization(s) he or she is affiliated with, and when his or her work was published.

• Internet Sources: Authorship and affiliations are difficult to determine on the Internet. Some sites my have author and sponsorship listed, but many do not.

Evaluating Print vs. Internet SourcesSources and Quotations

• Print Sources: In most traditional publications, external sources of information and direct quotations are clearly marked and identified.

• Internet Sources: Sources the author used or referred to in the text may not be clearly indicated in an Internet source.


Bias and Special Interest

• Print Sources: While bias certainly exists in traditional publications, printing is more expensive and difficult to accomplish. Most major publishers are out to make a profit and will either not cater to special interest groups or will clearly indicate when they are when they are catering to special interest groups.

• Internet Sources: The purpose of the online text may be misleading. A website that appears to be factual may actually be persuasive and/or deceptive.


Author Qualifications

• Print Sources: Qualifications of an author are almost always necessary for print sources. Only qualified authors are likely to have their manuscripts accepted for publication.

• Internet Sources: Even if the author and purpose of a website can be determined, the qualifications of the author are not always given.


Publication Information

• Print Sources: Publication information such as date of publication, publisher, author, and editor are always clearly listed in print publications.

• Internet Sources: Dates of publication and timeliness of information are questionable on the internet. Dates listed on websites could be the date posted, date updated, or a date may not be listed at all.


Don’t let all of this discourage you.

Understanding the nature of the Internet, how to navigate it, and how it is organized can help

you filter out the quality information and websites from that which does not relate or is

of questionable quality.

Kinds of Search Engines and Directories

1. Search Engines

2. Meta-search Engines

3. Web Directories

Search Engines and Directories

Search EnginesSearch engines ask for keywords or phrases and

then search the Web for results. www.google.comwww.yahoo.comwww.msn.comwww.lycos.com

www.altavista.com

Kinds of Search Engines and Directories

Visible Web / Invisible Web


Learn how the search engine works

Each search engine has its advantages:

• Google / MSN / Yahoo

• Lycos

• AltaVista


Select your terms carefully

Using inexact terms or terms that are too general will cause you problems. If your early

searches turn up too many references, try to find more specific terms, use boolean operators, or do an advanced search.

Search Engines and DirectoriesBoolean Operators

Most search engines allow you to combine terms with words (referred to as Boolean operators) such as "and," "or," or "not." Knowing how

to use these terms is very important for a successful search. Most search engines will allow you to apply the Boolean operators in

an "advanced search" option.


AND

AND is the most useful and most important term. It tells the search engine to find your first word AND your second word or term. AND can, however, cause problems, especially when you use it with phrases or two terms that are each broad in themselves or likely to appear together in other contexts.


OR

Use OR when a key term may appear in two different ways.


NEAR

NEAR is a term that can only be used on some search engines, and it can be very useful. It tells the search engine to find documents with both words but only when they appear near each other, usually within a few words.


NOT

NOT tells the search engine to find a reference that contains one term but not the other. This is useful when a term refers to multiple concepts.


Meta-Search Engines

These search other search engines and often search smaller, less well known search

engines and specialized sites. These search engines are good for doing large, sweeping searches of what information is out there.


Meta-Search Engines

Examples:• www.dogpile.com• www.mamma.com

• www.metacrawler.com• www.all4one.com

Search Engines and DirectoriesWeb Directories

Web directories (also known as indexes, web indexes or catalogues) are broken down into categories and sub-categories and are good for broad searches of established sites.

Search Engines and DirectoriesWeb Directories

Examples:• http://www.dmoz.com/

• http://search.yahoo.com/dir


Searching the Invisible Web

• www.alexa.com A website that archives older websites that are no longer available on the Internet.

• http://completeplanet.com Provides access to lists of databases which you can then search individually.



• http://highwire.stanford.edu Brought to you by Stanford University, HighWire press provides access to one of the largest databases of free, full-text, scholarly content.

• http://infomine.ucr.edu A research database created by librarians for use at the university level. It includes both a browsable catalogue and searching capabilities.



• www.invisible-web.net A database that provides a host of links to invisible web resources in a variety of categories.

• http://magportal.com A search engine that will allow you to search for free online magazine articles on a wide range of topics.



• www.doaj.org Another full-text journal searchable database.

• www.findarticles.com Indexes over 10 million articles from a variety of different publications.


Other useful sites for finding information

• http://lii.org Provides librarian-reviewed websites and material on a host of different topics. While this site is not exhaustive, it will provide you quality information on a large variety of topics. Some of this material is invisible-web material.

• www.about.com Provides practical information on a large variety of topics written by trained professionals.


Other useful sites for finding information

• www.wikipedia.com The largest free and open access encyclopedia on the internet.

www.stupidcensorship.com• www.refdesk.com A site that provides reviews

and a search feature for free reference materials online.

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Lesson Six Researching And The Internet

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