LIR 10: Week 10

1
LIR 10 Week 10

• Advanced WWW Topics

2
Class Announcements

• New features on Section 2904 Schedule
• Missing Homework
• Online Quiz due 11/16
• Another WWW directory recommendation
• The Internet Public Library http//www.ipl.org
  

3
Evaluating Search Engines

• Learn how your search engine finds documents on
  the WWW
• Find the best ways to search
• Infopeoples Best Search Tools Chart
• http//www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html

4
WWW Page Sources How to Find Them

• Check web page title, section headings, menu or
  opening paragraphs.
• Look near the top, bottom and navigational bar of
  the page.
• Look for a description links anywhere on the
  page
• "About the ______ Association"
• "About Us"
• Mission Statement
• For a author, check for links to his/her faculty
  or professional web pages.
• Check for links to articles and publications by
  the person or organization.
• Look for an address or phone number.
• Check library catalogs, Internet search engines
  and magazine or newspaper databases to see if the
  person or organization has published books or
  articles in the field.
• No source or author information? Be wary.
• The webmaster or person who designed the web page
  is not necessarily the one responsible for the
  content of the page.
• Examine the URL

5
Deconstructing URLs

• URL Uniform Resource Locator the address of
  web documents
• Another way to discover the source of web
  documents.
• A domain is the main subdivision of internet
  addresses
• Check the last two or three letters after the
  final dot

• Backspace over the last section of the URL to
  find the main page of the site
• .edu, .gov, .mil, .ca, .us
• .net, .org .com are unrestricted
• See ICANN Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) for full
  listings.

6
Internet Searching Beyond the Basics

• Metasearch Engines
• Sends your keywords to several search engines at
  the same time.
• Return a single list of results from multiple
  sources
• Source engine identified

7
Search Engines

• Search for keywords- number of times within
  document
• Searches keywords from a single database of
  websites
• Each search engine searches a unique selection of
  web pages
• Results are ranked and sorted
• Sends robots or spiders out to find new websites

8
Metasearch Engines

• Transmits searches simultaneously to
  several individual search engines.
• Results gathered from all search engines queried.
  
• Meta-search engines do not search a database of
  Web pages.
• Search terms are sent to the databases maintained
  by traditional search engines.

9
Metasearch Engines

• Pros
• Retrieve a relatively small number of relevant
  results
• A wider net helpful when youre not finding
  sufficient information using regular search
  engines.
• Provide an overall picture of whats available on
  the WWW

• Cons
• Limited to simple queries
• Limited search fields
• A shallow net--generally queries 10 of search
  engine results
• Includes sponsored links
• May not include Google results

10
Other Sources of Information on the Internet

• The hidden Internet
• Newsgroups and Listservs
• Databases
• News search engines

11
The Hidden InternetOr, the Invisible Web

• Its not a secret
• The Hidden Internet refers to what is not
  retrieved in the search results of most
  commercial search engines.

• Most of the invisible web is made up of the
  contents of thousands of specialized searchable
  databases that you can search via the WWW.

12
The Hidden Internet, cont.

• These hidden databases are often produced by
  very reliable sources

• Universities
• Libraries
• Associations
• Businesses
• Government agencies from the US and abroad.

13
Invisible Web Search Tools

• http//invisible-web.net
• http//www.lii.org
• http//www.completeplanet.com
• http//www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm
• (Caveat searching the last site is challenge!)

14
Other Ways to Find the Hidden Internet

• Search Google or other search engines for
  databases. For example
• Tree database
• Homeopathic database
• Search Google or other search engines for web
  directories. For example
• Civil War web directories
• Genealogy web directories

15
Invisible Web Search Examples

• Searching invisible-web.net
• Searching Google for Databases
• Searching LII

16
Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

• Newsgroups
• Worldwide bulletin board system accessed through
  the Internet.
• Contains tens of thousands of forums
  (newsgroups).
• Groups focus on wide range of topics, accessible
  to anyone and everyone.
• Every newsgroup is identified by a segmented
  title indicating the group's subject matter.
• Format is bulletin board style original and
  follow-up postings, also known as "articles".
• Not subscription based.

• Mailing Lists
• Term for automated mailing list distribution
  systems.
• People sharing an interest "subscribe" to
  discussion lists
• Subscribers' contributions distributed to the
  entire subscriber base via e-mail
• Commonly used by discussion groups.
• Mailing lists can focus on any type of discussion
  
• Subscription-based.

17
Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

• Pros
• Good for locating professional discussions.
• Interactive, questions welcome.
• Collaborative
• Alternative voices
• Cyber-networking

• Cons
• Unmoderated or lightly moderated forums
• On the Internet, no one knows youre a dog.
• Can be difficult to search

18
Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

• Accessible mailing lists by Catalist
  http//www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html
• Google groups (the Usenet)
• http//groups.google.com
• Usenet history http//www.ibiblio.org/usenet-i/
• Yahoo groups
• http//groups.yahoo.com
• Topica lists http//lists.topica.com/
• About.com forums http//www.about.com

19
Other Ways to Find Collaborative Sources

• Search Google or other search engines for forums.
  For example
• PDF forums
• Search Google or other search engines for
  discussion groups. For example
• Gardening discussion groups

20
Newsgroup and Mailing List Search Examples

• Google Groups (Usenet)
• Catalist Listserv search

21
Weblogs or Blogs

• Online journals, updated often
• News-oriented
• Contain commentary and links
• Personal or professional focus

• Pros
• Alternative sources
• Constantly updated
• Wide range of topics
• Cons
• Difficult to search
• Too much information
• Reliability of authors

22
Weblog Sources

• Google Directory
• http//directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Interne
  t/On_the_Web/Weblogs/
• DMOZ Weblog listing
• http//dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/
• IPL Blog Page
• http//www.ipl.org/div/blogs
• Search Google or other search engines for weblogs
  or blogs. For example
• Gardening weblogs

23
Final Advice About the Internet

• Be careful out there!

24
Next Weeks Homework

• WWW Assignment 2
• Online Quiz http//online.santarosa.edu/testbank/
  ?5714
• Final Project due
• Final is next week bring a Scantron form!