Search Engine Savvy SOME WISDOM FOR USING THE WORLD WIDE WEB

What is a “pacific northwest tree octopus”? Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus news report Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus news report

What issues does this raise about conducting research on the internet?

How often do you use internet search engines?

Which search engines do you use? One respondent also said “baidu.com”

How to Google Like a Boss

“ ” QUOTATION MARKS WILL GET YOU PHRASE-SPECIFIC RESULTS

~ USE A TILDE TO SEARCH RELATED WORDS “-GLOBAL WARMING” WILL ALSO PULL RESULTS FOR “CLIMATE CHANGE” AND “GREENHOUSE EFFECT”

- USE A MINUS SYMBOL TO EXCLUDE UNWANTED SEARCH RESULTS “WRECKING BALL” -”MILEY CYRUS”

.. USE TWO DOTS BETWEEN YEARS TO SEARCH FOR RESULTS RELATED TO A CERTAIN TIME PERIOD (EX. “COLD WAR” )

site: filetype: intitle: YOU CAN USE THESE INITIAL TERMS FOLLOWED BY A COLON TO USE GOOGLE TO SEARCH WITHIN A SPECIFIC SITE (NYTIMES.COM), FOR A SPECIFIC FILE TYPE (.PDF,.DOC,.JPEG), OR FOR A SPECIFIC WORD WITHIN THE TITLE.

Infographics you might want to save:  Lifehack’s “Google Like a Boss”“Google Like a Boss”  Infographic’s “Get More Out of Google”“Get More Out of Google”  University of California, Berkeley Library’s “Basic Search Tips and Advanced Boolean Explained”“Basic Search Tips and Advanced Boolean Explained”

Beyond Google WHAT OTHER SEARCH ENGINES MIGHT BE USEFUL?

Quick Activity Choose three of the search engines from the list and search for the same term on each search engine. 1) What were the first few results on each site? 2) How many results (or pages of results) turned up? 3) How do the search engines operate differently? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

How do search engines rank results?  Length of time on web  Optimization of content and code  # of links to and from site  $$$  Amount of content  # of updates *For most search engines this is performed by an algorithm, not human editors.

What about Wikipedia? IS WIKIPEDIA USEFUL FOR RESEACH?

What is a “wiki”?  A wiki is a web application which allows people to add, modify, or delete content in collaboration with others  Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning “quick”  What could go wrong? 

Evaluating web sources  Quick Activity:  Open a new Word document. Then choose a topic from history to look up on the internet using a search engine. Look at a variety of web sites covering that topic (maybe 3 to 5). As you are doing so, jot some notes down on the Word doc. How are you judging these sites? What are looking for in terms of credibility? What are some obvious tip-offs that a web site is, literally, incredible? What are the hallmarks of a credible site?

Evaluating web sources  Authority and Authorship:  What are the author's credentials? How do they present their ethos? Is there an identifiable author or authors? Is the author a company?  Objectivity:  Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it questionable and unsupported by evidence? Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda?  Intended Audience:  What type of audience is the author addressing? Is the publication aimed at a specialized or a general audience? Is the audience right for your needs?  Level of Information:  Does the source extensively or marginally cover your topic? Is the material primary or secondary in nature? Primary sources are the raw material of the research process. Secondary sources are based on primary sources.  Date of Publication:  When was the source published? Is this information available? Does it matter?