To undertake this unit on web searching, participants must have a unit of work or an assignment for which they want to find suitable web sites.
Objectives
At the end of this unit you will have knowledge of:
At the end of this unit you will be able to:
Before you begin your task on the web you need to read information contained at the following two sites:
Your Task: Find 5 web sites that would be suitable for an assignment topic that students of your subject complete. The addresses or URL's of the 5 sites are to be given to the teacher-librarian for cataloguing on AfW.
The following steps may assist you in your task
Brainstorm: Think about your topic. What is the question you're trying to answer? Think about the
- people
- terms (keywords and phrases)
- organizations - identify groups or organizations that may provide information for your topic
- places
- objects, etc.
Remember the 3M - Must, Might and Mustn't
Try your own search on the topic of your choice
Task 1: Using Altavista located at http://www.altavista.com, enter your search term/s
Search Term/s: ____________________________________________
Number of results: _________________
To ensure that you get the best sites use the questions for evaluating web sites at the following address: http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/library/eval.html
Try a different search engine and see if you get a different set of results
Task 2: Using Yahoo located at http://www.yahoo.com, enter your search term/s. Remember to evaluate your results to ensure that you get the best sites available.
Task 3: Compare and contrast your search results form (a) and (b). Different search engines give different results because they each index what is available on the web in a unique way.
Task 4: Try using the meta index Dogpile at http://www.dogpile.com/ to conduct your search. A meta index provides a single search form into which you enter a search request that is sent to several search engines at the same time.
Searching the Net - further resources:
Seven steps towards better searching http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/searching/sevensteps.html
Internet guides, tutorials and training information http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/internet/training.html
The Research Process and Online Information http://www.wn.com.au/rikkim/
AltaVista Search Tips http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/AltaVista.html
University of California at Berkeley Library publishes http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
Search the Internet - A Graduated, Nearly Failsafe Approach in 4 steps http://library.berkeley.edu/Help/search.html
Fondren Library at Rice University publishes 3 webpages:
Billanook College - search the internet http://www.billanook.vic.edu.au/FRAMES.HTM
Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
Seek Help - tips for using popular search tools http://www.seekhelp.com/
Web teacher tutorial http://www.webteacher.org/winnet/indextc.html
Web search strategies http://home.sprintmail.com/~debflanagan/main.html
Web search tools - http://www.terrace.qld.edu.au/library/wstools.htm
Specialised search engines and directories - http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/searching/specialized.html
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