Online Research

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Online ResearchKnow: What do you already know about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?

Want: What do you want to know about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus?

Learn: What are some things you learned about the PNTO in your research?

Visualize New Information:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU-yq_IJhtU

The REAL Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

(website) http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Get REAL REAL with Research Research

There are many different layers to a website. You need

to examine a number of “things” to ensure that the site is a reliable place to gather

research.

GET REALREAL:

R: READREAD the URLE: EXAMINEEXAMINE the

contentA: ASKASK about the

author and ownerL: LOOKLOOK for links to

and from the website

READREAD the URL

• Some extensions may provide more reliable information than others, but there are no guarantees.

• .com, .org, .net domains can be purchased by anybody. This is not to say that sites with these extensions can never be trusted, but it is good to know if you are trying to access academic-type information.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: • Do you recognize the domain name?

• What is the extension in the domain name?

.edu .gov .org .com .net

This site is a Holocaust Revisionist site that argues that the Holocaust did not take place. Although this site contains a

domain name we should be able to trust northwestern.edu, the tilde ~ followed by someone's name, abutz tell us that this is a

personal posting and not an official Northwestern page.

EXAMINEEXAMINE the content

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: • Is the information on the website useful to your topic?• Is the site current? Do you know when it was last updated?•Do YOU think the information is correct?•Does the information contradict what you have found elsewhere?

Do YOU think the information is correct?Does the information contradict what you have

found elsewhere?

ASKASK about the author/owner• Very often a web site author will not be listed• The URL can give you a clue about the author but it is

not enough to validate the information provided • Use easyWhois to find information about the author

and owner of particular web pages

http://www.easywhois.com/

LOOKLOOK for links to and from the site(forward links & back links)

FORWARD LINKS:Definition: A forward link is the name given to a link from one website to a page on another website.

• What are the URLs of the forward links?•Do the domain names change?

BACK LINKS:Definition: A back link is the name given to a link from another website to a page on the primary website.

• Who is linked to the website? • Why are they linked?• What do other sites say about the material on the site?

Back Links: the link:command

• The link:command allows you to create a list of back links. It is an excellent validating tool if you are unsure about the quantity of information on a website.

• http://www.altavista.com/web/results?fr=altavista&itag=ody&q=link%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fzapatopi.net%2Ftreeoctopus%2F&kgs=1&kls=0

GET REALREAL

R: READREAD the URL

E: EXAMINEEXAMINE the content

A: ASKASK about the author and owner

L: LOOKLOOK for links to and from the website

Reflection/HomeworkReflection/Homework

• http://trinityweblog.org/sixthteachers/• On Sixth Teachers’ Blog, you will find a post with a short

video (less than two minutes)…WATCH the video. • After you watch the video, THINK about how it connects

to what you learned in class today• WRITE A COMMENT (in the comments section) about

your thoughts or respond to a classmate’s response. You will want to read through the previous comments before you write your own.

• When you comment, use only your FIRST NAME and LAST INITIAL. Your email address is your username and 1011. – marha1011@students.trinityatl.org