1. Searching & Assessing Websites II Form Science Fall 2012

2. Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe. A king explains to them: "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all the features you mentioned." [1] [1] "Elephant and the blind men""Elephant and the blind men". Jain Stories. JainWorld.com. Retrieved 2011-09-20.

3. Domain Types (Step #1)- Understand the difference Company (.com,.net) Non Profit (.org,.edu) Individual Sites or Blogs (.org,.com,.edu) Government- US (.gov) Foreign Governments (.fr- France,.es- Spain) Currency (Step #2)- How Recent is the Information Regularly Updated When this is important/ When it Isn’t Design and Clarity of Site (Step #3)- Who’s behind the curtain? Ownership and About Us Clearly Defined Easy arrangement/navigation Who’s Reputable? First Consider the Following

4. Searching the Web Limit Our Searching- Google vs. Google AdvancedGoogle Advanced Know your terminology- Dihydrogen Monoxide Research DivisionDihydrogen Monoxide Research Division Try related terms-http://www.ipcc.ch/http://www.ipcc.ch/ Searching – Google Scholar & Google BooksGoogle ScholarGoogle Books One final note: – Lets talk Wikipedia & How to Use WikipediaWikipedia

5. Lets Look at Some Sites Evaluation of a site can be difficult, sometimes you have to be a detective. – Examples http://www.globalwarming.org/ versus http://www.pewclimate.org/ http://www.globalwarming.org/ http://www.pewclimate.org/