LEMA, February 2011 Deep Web Video

Image from express.howstuffworks.com, 14 Feb 11 Surface Web: accessible via general-purpose search engines such as Google and Yahoo! Deep Web: Not accessible via typical search engines; primarily databases 25 % 75 % AKA visible vs. invisible web 1 trillion + Pages 500 trillion + Pages!!

The “deep web” contains … Databases which use dynamic or temporary links Often ?, &, CGI, other elements in the URL Websites which aren’t indexed, by design or because there are no links to it Deep web sites Google limits the amount of a web site it indexes, an unpublished factor in its secret algorithm At one point, only 110K Formats that aren’t currently supported Google now shows results for.pdf,.doc,.ppt  Boundary between surface and deep web always in flux as search engines incorporate more of the deep web at the same time more is being added to the deep web

Deep Web: Why important? Studies show that students’ searching habits are fairly ingrained by college Use Google for everything Only look at the 1 st page of results Assume trustworthiness of web sites Rich source of in-depth material not accessible through a typical Google search  Expose students now to richer and more authoritative resources.

Students need to understand …. The best results are NOT in the top 10 Everything’s NOT on the web Google does NOT search the whole web Everything’s NOT free Everything’s NOT trustworthy Searching/Research is NOT always easy

How can we help our students be better searchers? Introduce them to the idea that Google isn’t everything & why Reinforce the idea of evaluating resources Make them better “surface” searchers Many information needs can be met with the surface web Easy yet “advanced” Google searching techniques Better alternatives to the “surface web” & how to effectively search these alternatives Databases! Familiarity with “deep” sites on a particular topic Example: Primary materials available at Library of Congress Example: Legislative info at thomas.loc.gov Familiarity with portals and directories

Three simple techniques to being a better Google searcher …. Phrase searching “xxx xxxx” Searching the title of web pages intitle: xxx or intitle:”xxx xxxx” Example: intitle:”climate change” Example: intitle:unicorn Specifying a site site:.xxx or site:xxx.com egypt site:washingtonpost.com “climate change” site:.gov NOTE: 1.No space after colon 2.Lowercase commands

Let’s try a site: search …. Look for a Washington Post article on the B-52s

Now let’s try a phrase search… First, try Howard Morris as a simple keyword search -- How many hits?

Now try it as a phrase “Howard Morris” How many hits?

Now let’s try an intitle: search First, just search for “climate change” – how many hits?

An intitle: search Now try searching for “climate change” in the title of the web page – how many hits?

Searching the Deep Web LVHS Library Web Page – Deep Web link on the left LVHS Library Web Page Google search for your topic and add keyword database Ex: Plane crashes database

The Deep Web: A Comparison Using Google, search on the term metabolism Open a separate tab, go to and search metabolism againwww.science.gov Looking at the top ten results of each, which provided generally “better” information? How difficult/easy is it to pursue your search in related fields?

Directories/Portals of Interest Ipl2 January 2010 Merge of Internet Public Library and Librarians’ Internet Index Librarians and Information Science Professionals Hosted by Drexel University’s College of Information Science & Technology Infomine University-level scholarly resources Librarian built and maintained University of California Virtual Private Library

Other Resources LVHS Library Web Page – Deep Web link on the left LVHS Library Web Page Going Beyond Google: The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching by Jane Devine and Francine Egger-Sider, 2009 Not as up-to-date as web resources, but Very focused on teaching

Any questions?