Information Literacy

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Information Literacy

• What is it?

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Information Literacy

• Ability to locate, organize, evaluate and use
  information
• Combines computer and research skills
• Sources of information Internet, databases,
  books, newspapers, television and radio

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Internet

• There is so much information on the internet.
  How do you tell whats good information and what
  is bad information?

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Search Engine

• Program on the internet to help users search for
  files and information
• Top four search engines
• Google - http//www.google.com
• Yahoo - http//www.yahoo.com
• Ask - http//www.ask.com
• AlltheWeb - http//www.alltheweb.com

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Other Search Engines

• AltaVista was the Google of way back when (now
  owned by Yahoo).
• http//www.altavista.com
• AOL search - http//aolsearch.aol.com
• Live Search (formally MSN Live)
• http//www.live.com/
• http//searchenginewatch.com/2156221

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Question 13 How do sites get to the top of a
result list in Google?

• Popularity counts the number of links from
  sites all around the web. For example, if a
  large number of sites has a specific keyword
  somewhere on their web site along with a link to
  a particular site. The higher the number of
  links to a site, the higher Google will rank that
  site on a list result.

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Question 13 How do sites get to the top of a
result list in Google? (cont)

• Other factors
• Title of site,
• Sites meta information
• Actual content of the site

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Major Directory

• 0 knew Major Directory
• Major Directory catalogs (indexes) the Web
• Open Directory http//dmoz.org not
  recommended for searching
• Use Google Directory - http//www.google.com/dirh
  p

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Some answers for Question 1

• Wikipedia NO! not a search engine
• Wikipedia is a reference source
• Free Online Encyclopedia
• Articles are written collaboratively from
  volunteers around the world
• Facts are checked.
• Answer.com
• Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia, reference source

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Some answers for Question 1 not search engines

• Thebostonchannel.com a website for WCVB TV
  Channel 5 Boston
• Hotmail.com Microsofts free web-based e-mail
  service.

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Boolean Operators(Question 5)

• Terms used to narrow or expand your results of
  online searching
• AND
• OR
• NOT
• Named after George Boole who invented the logic
  in the 1800s

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AND, OR, NOT
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Boolean Search

• Search Dolphins and Whales this will retrieve
  all records that have both keywords dolphins,
  whales
• Search Dolphins or Whales this will retrieve
  all records that have dolphins, whales or both
  dolphins and whales.
• Search Dolphins not Miami will retrieve all
  records with the keyword dolphins, but not the
  keyword Miami

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Question 3 Why might you use quotation marks
when searching.

• To ensure your keywords appear in the order you
  have specified
• Search global warming no quotes
• Search global warming
• Note the differences in the results

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Question 4 URL is an acronym for

• 1 the brain wrong!
• 1 United Rare Ladies wrong!
• 4 Universal Router Link wrong!
• 7 IDK
• 2 Universal Resource Locator Correct! (web
  address)

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Question 6 How do you find the owner or
publisher of a site

• 0 correct answers
• Go to www.easywhois.com enter the URL of the site
  you would like to research
• Try to find the owner or publisher of
  www.wakefieldlacrosse.com

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Question 7 Extensions of URL

• .org organization does not have to be
  non-profit
• .com company
• .sch school (used outside US)
• .k12 most US school sites
• .edu US higher education (colleges)

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(Cont) - Extensions

• .gov US government (add country code for outside
  US)
• .ac higher ed outside us usually with a country
  code ie .ac.uk
• .net network
• .mil military
• .co company (if pared with country code, ie
  .co.uk) or state of Colorado, or the country
  Columbia

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Question 8 How do you find out who is linked to
your schools website?

• Go to Alta Vista wwwaltavista.com and do a
  link command search
• Type linkwww.stjosephschoolwakefield.org

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Question 9 What clues in a web address might
indicate that you are on a personal website?

• Tilde in the domain name
• http//comsewogue.org/ssilverman/litcircles/resou
  rces.htm
• Percent sign in the domain name
• Personal name john or the word user after the
  domain name and the first forward slash
• http//kids-learn.org/litcircles/silverman/silverm
  an.htm

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Question 10 How would you conduct a search for
the following a list of websites of all the
academic institutions in South Africa?

• Go to Alta Vista www.altavista.com
• Type host ac.za in the search box
• For subject specific resources around the world
  using extensions and country codes. Full list of
  exentions and country codes
• http//www.computeruser.com/resources/
• dictionary/domains.html

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Question 11 How do you find the history of any
given website?

• Use the Wayback Machine
• Go to www.archive.org and type the URL you are
  researching.

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Question 12 How do you conduct a search for the
following US higher education websites that
contain the word turtle

• Go to Alta Vista www.altavista.com
• Type hostedu turtle

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Question 2 What is a blog?

• Short for weblog
• A Web 2.0 tool
• Online Journal
• Can be about anything
• Example http//weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/bees -
  Blog about the book The Secret Life of Bees