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Smart Searching:

Learn to efficiently research I-Search topics online using search engines, directories, Boolean operators, and search engine tricks. Evaluate website credibility and master search strategies. Dive into bird identification as a case study while navigating search engines effectively.

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Smart Searching:

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  1. Smart Searching: Using the Internet to get started researching Your I-Search Topic

  2. Internet Search Tools • Search Engines: • Google, Ask • MetaSearch Engines: • Clusty, Dogpile • Directories: • Yahoo

  3. But how do they work? • Crawler-based Search Engines • Listings are generated automatically using software (spiders) that “crawl” the web and index sites based on words on the web page. • Google • People-powered Directories • People get paid to evaluate web pages into various categories. • Yahoo

  4. Solving a Mystery • Julia works in downtown Chapel Hill. While on her lunch break one fine spring day, she sees a flash in the sky! She looks up to see a bird about the size of a crow diving at high speed after what looks to be a pigeon. The bird then swoops out of sight. Julia is captivated by the gray and white bird with a crooked black and yellow beak.

  5. What do already we know? • Who/what ? gray and white bird, size of a crow, crooked black and yellow beak • Where ? downtown buildings, town of Chapel Hill, NC • When ? Daytime in the Spring • How ? Fast-flying, possibly hunting pigeons as prey • Why ? Never seen it before. Is it migrating? Is it lost?

  6. What do we want to know? • I want to know more about a bird • One term: bird • I want to know more about a bird that hunts • Two terms: bird, hunter • I want to know what birds that hunt live in the Southeast • Three terms: bird, hunter, Southeast

  7. Start with Nouns • Bird • Crow • Beak • Chapel Hill • Spring • Hunter • Pigeon • Migration

  8. Bird that hunts Bird of prey Hawk Eagle Owl Falcon Southeast Southern North Carolina Chapel Hill Think like a Thesaurus

  9. String terms together into phrases and use “quotes” Try these searches in Google: bird of prey = 1,810,000 “bird of prey” = 1,130,000 “bird of prey” “North Carolina” = 27,200 “bird of prey” “North Carolina” spring= 16,700

  10. Boolean! • AND is the invisible Boolean Falcon migrate spring • OR gets the most results Falcon (grey OR gray OR yellow) • NOT – eliminates certain words Falcon (grey OR gray) “North Carolina” –car –miami –shoe

  11. Search Engine Tricks…Try These: • Exact quotes “North Carolina Falconers Guild” • Nesting Falcon (grey OR gray OR yellow) “North Carolina” (falcon OR falcons) • Truncation Hunt* • Advanced Search In Google, Advanced Search is located right next to the search button.

  12. Evaluating Websites • Who is responsible for this info? Who wrote it? Who published it to the Internet? A school? A government agency? What’s their level of expertise? • When was the page last updated? • Try to distinguish between promotion, advertising, and serious content. • Who is linking to the page, and what links to other pages does the page itself maintain?

  13. A Web Address Demystified:http://www.bronxletters.org/pta.html • "http" means hypertext transfer protocol and refers to the format used to transfer and deal with information • "www" stands for World Wide Web and is the general name for the host server that supports text, graphics, sound files, etc. (It is not an essential part of the address, and some sites choose not to use it) • “bronxletters" is the domain name, or name of the site. In this case, our school, Bronx Letters. • “org" means that the site belogs to a non-profit organization • “pta" is a specific page in the web site • "html" is the file type and, in this case, stands for hypertext mark-up language (that's the language the computer reads)

  14. Website Rankings • Rankings are often based on: • Title of the Site • When the webpage title contains your search word, the page appears higher in the search engine results • Frequency • Number of times a word(s) appears • Location/Frequency • Number of times the word(s) appear near the top of the page

  15. To Wiki or not to Wiki? • Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone with access to a computer and the Internet can edit, change. • Pros: anyone can update • Cons: anyone can update • Like any encyclopedia, Wikipedia is best used at the beginning of your search to understand the basic facts about your topic. It’s a good first stop, but your research can not end with Wikipedia.

  16. Searching is a process, which means it takes time • Before you click on a link from your search results page, notice the title, how your terms are used, and what the web address can tell you about who created the site. • Notice words and phrases found on relevant sites about your same topic and use them to focus your search • In Google, once you find a really useful site, click on the “Similar Pages” link to see other pages that are like the one you found useful.

  17. Planning for the End: Compiling Works Cited • Compile as you go!!! • Save often!!! • Cut and paste web addresses and text into a Word document to keep track of where you’re finding your information • Cut and past web addresses and text into an email addressed to yourself and click send

  18. Thanks for your attention! Questions ???

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