Power Searching Tips

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Power Searching Tips

• Online Resources for the Secondary Classroom
  Summer 2005

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Boolean Operators

• And
• OR
• NOT
• Wildcards
• Truncation
• Phrases

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AND

• Vietnam AND protest AND students
• Japan cooking
• eagles habitat endangered

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OR

• Is used to capture synonyms or related words
• Car or automobile
• Coronary or heart

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NOT - AND NOT

• Eliminates possibilities that you suspect will
  cause problems
• Martin Luther NOT King
• eagles Philadelphia -football

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Wildcards, Truncation ?

• Teen (picks up teenage, teenagers, or teens)
• Info (for Information or informant)
• Wom?n (for woman or women)
• S?ng (for sing, sang, sung)

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Phrases

• vitamin A
• raisin in the sun
• George Washington Carver

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Tip about Tips

• Googles uses an automatic AND
• Others like Ask Jeeves allow for natural
  language
• Read the Tips Page for the correct syntax

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Search Tools

• Search Engines
• Meta-Search Engines
• Subject Directories
• Invisible Web
• News Search Engines
• Image/Media Searching

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Search Engines

• Google
• AllTheWeb
• AltaVista
• Hotbot
• Teoma
• WiseNut

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Advantages of Search Engines

• Large and offer a broad database of information
• Good searchers can refine their searches
• Some use smart technology

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Meta-Search Engines

• Vivisimo
• ProFusion
• Query Server
• Dogpile
• Ixquick

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Advantages of Meta-Search Engines

• Offers a comprehensive search
• Searches across databases
• Search all your favorite search engines in one
  swoop!

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Subject Directories

• Google Directory
• LookSmart
• Yahoo!
• About.com
• Librarians Index to the Internet
• WWW Virtual Library

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Advantages of Directories

• Results of high quality
• Fewer results
• May offer annotations
• Ability to browse among related materials

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Disadvantages of Directories

• Smaller in scope
• Do not store databases of websites
• Search their OWN database structure
• Directory editors may take time to change links
  dead links

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Use a Subject Directory when

• You are just starting out and want to examine a
  few quality sites
• You have a broad topic or one major keyword or
  concept
• You want to get quickly to the best sites on a
  topic
• You are looking for a group of similar sites on
  the same topic

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Invisible Web or Deep Web

• Huge amount of Web content that is difficult or
  impossible to find using a traditional search
  engine
• Includes databases, special file types like .pdfs
  and spreadsheets
• Sites that require password access and/or block
  robots or spiders

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How to Find the Invisible Web?

• Use a standard search tool and enter your search
  terms and the term database
• Search Librarians Index to the Internet or
  INFOMINE and pay attention to results labeled
  database
• Browse special topical indexes designed
  especially for the Invisible Web
• Use the Middle and High School subscription
  databases (EBSCOhost, SIRS, CQ Researcher, etc.)

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Directories for the Invisible Web

• Invisible Web Directory
• SearchIQ
• InvisibleWeb.com
• IncyWincy
• Geniusfind
• CompletePlanet
• Fossick

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Examples Invisible Web Database

• GEM Gateway to Educational Materials
• Internet Movie Database
• Healthfinder
• Artchive

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News Search Engines

• AltaVista News
• CNN.com
• Daypop
• HeadlineSpot.com
• RocketNews
• Worldnews
• Yahoo! News

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Image / Media Searching

• AltaVista Image Finder
• Google Image Search
• Ditto.com
• Find Sounds
• Fossick.com Multimedia Fossick.com
• HotBot
• Yahoo Picture Gallery

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Web Site Evaluation

• Credibility Who is the author?
• Accuracy Can the facts be verified?
• Reliability Is there a particular view or bias?
• Relevance Does it support my thesis?
• Date When was it created? Revised?
• Sources behind the text? Are there any?
• Scope Is this source scholarly or popular
  treatment? Is it comprehensive or narrow?

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Web Site Evaluation

• Credibility Who is the author?
• Accuracy Can the facts be verified?
• Reliability Is there a particular view or bias?
• Relevance Does it support my thesis?
• Date When was it created? Revised?
• Sources behind the text? Are there any?
• Scope Is this source scholarly or popular
  treatment? Is it comprehensive or narrow?

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Analyzing an Internet Address

• Can contain a domain and a country code URL
  http//www.barringtonhighschool.org/library/evalu
  ation
• prefix//rootaddress/subdirectory/file

• Domain Names
• .mil .com .edu. .home .net .org .info .firm
  .gov .store .ac

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Web Sites to Explore

• Absolution Online
• Afterlife Telegrams
• Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
• Annals of Improbable Research
• Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

• Boilerplate, the Victorian Robot
• Bonsai Kitty
• Brain Transplantation
• Buydehydratedwater.com
• Click Monkeys

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More Web Sites

• Clones R Us
• Dog Island
• Fredericton
• FunPhone
• Greenpeas
• Hatchoo
• The Jackalope Conspiracy
• Lip Balm Anonymous
• Mankato, MN

• Moon Travel
• New Hartford, Minnesota
• The Onion
• Republic of Mollossia
• Ruritania
• The Vatican Online
• The White House

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Bonnie BjorkmanDirector of Media
ServicesBarrington CUSD 220

• Summer 2005