1 information literacy program module 3 untangle the web: finding information on the internet emalus...
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Information Literacy Program
Module 3Untangle the Web:
Finding Information on the Internet
Emalus Campus
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Other ILP Modules
Module 1: Resources available @ the Emalus Campus Library
Module 2: Accessing the Emalus Library Website & Using the Online Catalogue
Module 3: Untangle the Web:Finding Information on the Internet
Module 4: Critically Evaluating Information Sources Module 5: Literature Search, Citing Sources & the
Bibliography
Emalus Campus
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Learning Objectives
• to explain the Internet and the World Wide Web
• to demonstrate how to locate information on the World Wide Web
• to explain different ways of searching the World Wide Web
Emalus Campus
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Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session, students should:
• understand what the Internet and WWW are
• be more aware of search tools such as directories, virtual libraries, and search engines to locate information on the Internet
• understand the different ways of searching the World Wide Web
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Some History
• Began in 1960s as a US Dept. of Defense military network
• 1969-Spread to link universities and research facilities (Advanced Research Projects Agency –ARPA)
• electronic mail was introduced in 1976 and Queen Elizabeth II was the first state leader to send an email
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Some History
• 1982- the word “Internet is used for the first time
• libraries began making online catalogs available--early 1980s
• Tim Berners-Lee of CERN developed hyperlinks. He called it the World Wide Web (WWW) ---- 1991
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Some History, cont’d.
• the WWW is now the largest part of the Internet
• search engines and web directories have been developed to track web pages and enable people to find things
• wireless Internet --- 2000• worldwide there are about 2 billion Internet
users --- ¼ of the world’s population
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What is the Internet?
• interlinked web of computer networks • no organization, corporation or government
owns or runs the Internet• the WWW provides a single interface to the
many functions of the Internet
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Why is the Internet slower in Vanuatu?
Internet Infrastructure• Fibreoptic networks use light pulses to
transmit data (literally at the speed of light)• Cost• Geographical location
• Vanuatu relies on satellite connections for all communications
• Satellite signals have to travel a great distance above the earth and then back again causing a delay in data transmission
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Uses of the Internet
• Communication– email – blogs– social networks, e.g..MySpace– virtual communities , e.g. Second Life
• Information Retrieval– libraries– Databases– Google– Wikipedia
• Presentation of Information– digital publishing (books, photos, etc.)
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Organization of the Web
• Web browser– example: Internet Explorer, Mozilla,Netscape
• Portal– Example: MSN.com
• Emalus campus website – http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/
• Emalus campus library home page– http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/library/
• Library Vanuatu Collection web page– http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/library/Vanuatu.htm
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The URL - Uniform Resource Locator
• URL indicates the location of a file on the Internet or WWW
• like a street address or library call number
• includes the type of service as well as the exact location of the file
– http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj
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Anatomy of a URL
URL – uniform resource locator
http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/library/Video_Collection.htm
Type of protocol Name of
Host Computer
Domain Name
Directory Path
Requested File
.edu / .ac / .com / .net / .gov / .org / .shop / .arts / .rec
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Different Domains on the Net• .com or .co = commercial source• .edu or .ac = education institute• .gov = government source• .int = non profit international organizations• .net = mostly internet service providers e.g.
Telecom• .org = originally applied to non-profit organizations,
but commercial and for-profit organizations now also use this designation email addresses tend to reflect the parent (domain name)
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Domain Names
• http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/
• http://www.vanuatu.gov.vu/
• http://www.vanuatubeef.com
• http://www.forumsec.org/
• http://www.att.net.au
• http://www.who.int
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Wikipedia.orgEmalus Campus
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Google Home Page Emalus Campus
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Relevance Ranking
• order of terms of search
• location of terms in the document
• proximity of multiple keywords in the document
• repetition of keywords in the document
• location of the page
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Word Order Emalus Campus
• grass snake -Mostly about a kind of snake
• snake grass -Will find many about a kind of grass, not present in first search
• snake in the grass -Most pages will find expression but also firsttwo
• “snake in the grass” -Most specific and precise. Exact phrase must appear
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Google Basic Search
Google uses boolean operators the AND is implied all of the time in its basic
search option Various endings are implied –
kite flying= kites, kiting, flying, fly, flies
that’s why you get such large numbers of records
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Getting fewer results
• I’m Feeling Lucky• Define:• Advanced Search• Directories• Google Scholar• Other features—Images, Translate, etc.
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Google Advanced Search Emalus Campus
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Search Tools
• search engines
e.g. Google, Yahoo, Ask • Library websites/databases, ‘Virtual libraries’
e.g. Infomine• directories
e.g. Yahoo, About• portals
e.g. Microsoft MSN
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Which Tool?
• looking for a specific item
• want to browse in a broad subject area
• looking for journal articles
• want to restrict results to sites that have been evaluated for quality
→ use Directories and Virtual Libraries
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Which Tool?
• looking for a specific topic
• looking for a subject that’s a bit vague
• just exploring to see what’s out there
• → use Search Engine or Portal
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Journal Articles Emalus Campus
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INFOMINE Home Page Emalus Campus
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INFOMINE Advanced Search Emalus Campus
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Ask.com Home Page Emalus Campus
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Ask.com Advanced Search Emalus Campus
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No matter what your Information Source …
you are responsible for evaluating the information and attributing your sources
Refer to Module 4 : CARS criteria
Refer to Module 5 : Literature search, citing sources & the
bibliography
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Via the Internet
The Internet gives you access to the good, the bad and the ugly. You can access countless providers of information, therefore …
evaluate the information you retrieve– you do this by verifying / cross-checking
the information against other reliable sources
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Search Tips
• always check for typographic errors
• do not enter a single word to search
• to find an exact phrase, enter it in quotes “exact phrase”
• use the advanced search if available
• use a good subject directory to find reliable sites
• always evaluate information carefully
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In Summary
• different search tools have different strengths and weaknesses
• it’s easier to compare the results between 2 or more search engines if you use the same search terms
• consider keeping a list of interesting web sites, with brief notes on strengths that interest you or add to Favorites
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And Remember
“Man is still the most extraordinary computer
of all”
---John F. Kennedy