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NOT ALL SEARCH BOXES ARE CREATED EQUAL! How to Be an Expert Searcher

NOT ALL SEARCH BOXES ARE CREATED EQUAL! How to Be an Expert Searcher. *Internet *Wikipedia *Databases *eBooks *Blogs *Journals *Podcasts *Social Networking

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NOT ALL SEARCH BOXES ARE CREATED EQUAL! How to Be an Expert Searcher

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  1. NOT ALL SEARCH BOXES ARE CREATED EQUAL!How to Be an Expert Searcher *Internet *Wikipedia *Databases *eBooks *Blogs *Journals *Podcasts *Social Networking This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

  2. Where Do You Start? www.e-consultancy.com/.../searchBox.asp

  3. Do You Like Wikipedia? • What is a wiki anyway? • A wiki is a website that allows visitors to add, remove, edit and change content. • Effective tool for mass collaborative authoring. • Fast, current, global, and diverse. • The more it’s edited, the better it gets! From Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki • Other Examples: • School Librarians: http://teacherlibrarianwiki.pbwiki.com/ • Middle School Math: http://dedworthmaths.pbwiki.com/

  4. Can You Believe What You Read on Wikipedia?

  5. SoWhy do Schools and Colleges Prohibit Wikipedia as a Research Resource? • Wikipedia articles are anonymous. The author could be anyone! • Articles are never complete. • Any article could be in the middle of a major edit, • Or a major vandalization. • Information is not always verifiable. Wikipedia:General disclaimer • There is a risk of plagiarism. Researching with Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia

  6. Let’s look at Wikipedia! • Look at the article quality. • Look at the page edit history. • Check the article’s discussion page, if one exists. • Check the templates at the top of the article. http://people.lib.ucdavis.edu/psa/How_to_evaluate_a_Wikipedia_article.pdf

  7. Where Else Will You Look for Authoritative, Credible, & Reliable Information? • The Internet • Academic Databases • Subject Directories • Books!!! Each of these is a gold mine of information. An expert searcher knows when and how to use each one.

  8. How to Get the Most Out of Search Engines, or How to be a Good Googler • Why? You want to search everything that’s out there. • Where? Google • How? Try to imagine what words would appear on the websites you hope to find.

  9. Important Google Tips • If you do nothing else, start using “quotation marks” to search phrases. • Use up to 6 keywords to focus search • List in priority • Don’t use stop words (a, an, the, or, to…) • Use nouns when you can • Spell carefully • Use the tilde to search for synonyms. • ~cell phone

  10. Google Advanced SearchHow to Find Sites… • That contain ALL your search terms • That contain an EXACT PHRASE • That contain AT LEAST one of several words • That do NOT contain certain words • Written in a certain language • Created in a certain file format (.pdf, .ppt, .xls) • Updated within a certain period of time • Within a certain domain (.edu, .gov, .org)

  11. Have You Tried Clusty? • Metasearch engine • Generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking • Groups similar results into clusters • See your results by topic • Helps you zero in on aspect of topic, or discover unexpected relationships

  12. Once You Find the Info, How Do You Judge its Reliability? • Evaluating Web Sites: http://library/evaluating.htm • Ten Ways to Test Facts http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/06/10-ways-of-testing-the-facts/ • Researching the “chickadee” Which site is best? • http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Black-capped_Chickadee.html • http://home.jtan.com/~jack/ckd.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee • http://www.littlechickadee.com/

  13. Academic DatabasesEBSCO-Galenet-Facts on File-Proquest, etc. • Why? You need current, accurate information from reliable sources. • Where? Library link to subscription resources. • How? Each is different, but generally, use broad keywords. Try to imagine the word you would look for in an index.

  14. Subject Directories • Why? You are a feeling a little vague and need to browse without wasting time. • Where? • Internet Public Library • Librarians’ Internet Index • How? You are searchingdescriptions of websites, not the actual web pages. Conduct a keyword search with fewer, broader terms than you would use in full-text search engines such as Google. For example, use terms such as influenza rather than bird flu.

  15. Books!!! • Why? You want a lot of in-depth information on a particular topic. • Where? Library Catalog. • Indexed by “Subject Headings” • How? • Specific Book: Search by Title or Author. • General Search: Use broad key words. Try to imagine the subject heading a library cataloguer would use.

  16. Summing Up

  17. So Where Do You Look?An Expert Searcher Plans Ahead & Goes to the Best Source for What He/She Needs Books Databases Subject Directories Internet

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