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Search web

google and beyond

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Search web

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  1. Research-quality Web Searching Google and Beyond John Kupersmith jkupersm [at] library.berkeley.edu A “Know Your Library” Workshop Teaching Library, University of California, Berkeley Spring 2008 COURSE PAGES: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/find/types/websites.html http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

  2. Research-quality Web Searching Goals Search Google effectively and precisely Know when to use other search engines and web directories Evaluate what you find on the web

  3. How Google works • BEFORE you search:“Crawls” pages on the public webCopies text & images, builds database • WHEN you search:Automatically ranks pages in your results • Word occurrence and location on page • Popularity - a link to a page is a vote for it • ~ 200 factors in all!

  4. Searching Google • Think “full text” = be specificwar of 1812 economic causesvs. history • Use academic & professional termsdomestic architecture vs. housesgenome societygets International Mammalian Genome Societyalso try combinations withassociation, research center, institute, directory, database

  5. Specify exact phrases“tom bates”“what you're looking for is already inside you” • Exclude or require a wordproliferation -nuclearobama +hussein

  6. Limit your search to … • Web page titleintitle:hybrid allintitle:hybrid cars mileage • Website or domainsite:whitehouse.gov “global warming”site:edu “global warming”

  7. File typefiletype:ppt site:edu “global warming” • Definitionsdefine:pixeldefine:“due diligence”

  8. On the results page • Search box (use to modify) • “Cache” • “Related pages” • “Translate this page” Sample search

  9. Let’s try it ! • Search Google • Use our examples or your own topics

  10. Google’s other databases

  11. Why go beyond Google? • Search more of the webYahoo! • Get more options in resultsAsk.comExalead

  12. Take advantage of human selectivityLibrarians’ Internet IndexInfoMineGoogle Custom Search Engines (CSE)

  13. Let’s try it ! • Try other search tools • Compare results with Google

  14. Let’s visit … Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division

  15. CRITICAL EVALUATIONWhy Evaluate What You Find on the Web? • Anyone can put up a web page • Many pages not updated • No quality control • most sites not “peer-reviewed” • less trustworthy than scholarly publications

  16. Before you click to view the page... • Look at theURL -personal page or site ? ~ or % orusers or members • Domain name appropriate for the content ? • Restricted: edu, gov, mil, a few country codes (ca) • Unrestricted:com, org, net, most country codes (us, uk) • Published by an entity that makes sense ? • News from its source? www.nytimes.com • Advice from valid agency? www.nih.gov/ www.nimh.nih.gov/

  17. Scan the perimeter of the page • Can you tell who wrote it ? • name of page author • organization, institution, agency you recognize • Credentials for the subject matter ? • Look for links to: “About us”“Philosophy”“Background” “Biography” • Is it recent or current enough ? • Look for “last updated” date

  18. Examine the content • Text • possibly forged ? • why not a link to published version ? • Sources • documented with links, footnotes, etc.? • do the links work ? • Evidence of bias • in text or sources ?

  19. Search the URL in alexa.com Click on “Overview” Who links to the site? Who owns the domain? What did the site look like in the past? (Wayback Machine) Do some detective work

  20. Which blogs link to it? What do they say? Try the URL in Google Blog Search See what links are in Google’s “Similar pages” Look up the page author in Google

  21. Does it all add up ? • Was the page put on the web to • inform ? • persuade ? • sell ? • as a parody or satire ? • Is it appropriate for your purpose?

  22. Try evaluating some sites... • Search a controversial topic in Google • nuclear armageddon • prions danger • “stem cells” abortion • Scan the first two pages of results • Visit one or two sites • evaluate their quality and reliability

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