Searching

1
Searching Evaluating Web Resources

• Finding and Evaluating Information from the
  Internet

2
Evaluating Websites

• When you use a research library, the books,
  journals, and other resources have already been
  evaluated before purchase. The indexes and
  databases are produced by a professional or
  scholarly organization or by a commercial
  indexing business that is part of the information
  industry. While the resources that you use in an
  academic library have been evaluated in one way
  or another before you research them, none of this
  applies to the Internet. With the rapid growth of
  the Internet, todays library user can access
  resources from any place in the world and from
  many types of information providers. These
  providers include governments, organizations,
  businesses, and individuals making their pet
  projects accessible to the world. Internet
  resources frequently lack the publishing
  industrys filters of need and worth, may be
  poorly maintained, and may be only transiently or
  intermittently available. Anyone can create a
  website and these pages may contain incorrect or
  misleading information either accidentally or on
  purpose.

3
Evaluating Websites

• http//www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.h
  tml
• Ask yourself the pertinent questions
• Accuracy
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Currency
• Coverage
• Be skeptical

4
Search Strategies

• http//www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/infor
  mation/5locate/adviceengine.html
• Many search engines are evaluated for their
  usefulness
• Most appropriate tool for particular kinds of
  questions
• http//www.internettutorials.net/choose.html

5
Search Engines

• http//www.searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php
  /2156221
• Danny Sullivan
• Descriptions of the best search engines
• How they function

6
Search Engine Math

• http//www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/article.php
  /2156021
• How it works
• What it does

7
Meta Search Engines

• http//www.searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php
  /2156241
• What they do
• How they do it

8
Assignment

• A) Use more than one search engine to
  search your research paper topic
• Why did you choose the search engine you did?
• What results did you find? Any differences?
• B) Go to http//www.mckendree.edu/academics/Biolog
  y.aspx
• Select one of the sites under Internet
  Resources.
• In your own words, evaluate the site using the
  criteria in the previous slide (Slide 3). Write
  a summary of your findings - two paragraph
  minimum.