Preparing To Search The Internet

Helping Students Search

Effectively

Surfing is not searching.

“Computers organize and download information—

• They do not teach you to think.

URL’s (Uniform Resource Locator)

• web “address” that connects you with a website• Goes in the address bar at the top of the screen • Gives you information about where the website comes from

Top Level Domains

• .edu—higher education• .k-12—elementary and secondary schools• .com—commercial• .gov—government agency• .mil—military• .org—general noncommercial organization• .net—computer network• .ca— Canada, each country has own domain• ~ — personal

Who Pays For The Internet?

• Advertisers pay for Internet websites.• Popups and banners are trying to influence your

spending habits.• commercial sites--.com, or a non-profit -- .org —

may try to encourage you to buy a particular product or donate money.

How Do You Find What You Need?

• Libraries are planned.• Internet is organized by popularity.• Well-prepared searches will eliminate useless hits

and wasted time.

What Do You Use To Search?

• Search engines• Search directories• Metasearchers

Search Engines

• Are like the index in the back of a book • They list everything, no judgement as to worth• Let you search for specific words and topics• Use robots known as spiders to search for

information.

Examples:

Type in western expansion using the following search engines which is better and why?

• Sweet Search• Google Kids

Search Directories--

•Are like the table of contents in front of a book•Let you search for concepts or subject categories

•Sites are CHOSEN by people.

Type in western expansion:

Kids Click

Grolier click elementary, type in western expansion then go to website

Plan

• What do you need to know about your topic?• list the terms connected with your topic.• list terms that you don’t want to see appear.

CombineUse Boolean operators to combine your most

important terms.• Use AND to connect the terms you want to

see.• Use NOT to exclude terms you don’t want.• Use OR to include similar terms.• Use quotation marks for exact names or

phrases• Use last names when searching for people

AND NOT

OR

For example…If you are looking for information about life on the planet Mars, NOT the Roman god of war.

What you find…

A search on Google© yields:

Mars - 265 million hits

Mars and planet - 17 million hits

Mars and planet not war - 298 thousand hits

Remember…. Hits are returned and ranked according to--

• times terms appear on the page• how close terms are to each other• how near the top of the page the terms are

found• if too few hits try another search engine or

use different terms

EVALUATE!

“Let the buyer beware”Publishers check, search engines don’t

Before you start using the information--

A is for author?• Can you find who wrote it and what makes that

person an author_ ity? • Does it show the publisher/sponsor of the

page?• Can you contact the author?• Is it a preferred domain(.k-12, .gov, .org, .net)?

B is for bias

• Is there a point of view?• Is it trying to sell you something?• Is it fair and balanced?

C is for correct

• Does the information make sense?• Does the author tell you where he

found the information, so you can check?

• Does it answer your question?

D is for date• How old is the site?• Has it been updated within the past year?• Does the information have to be “now”

facts?• Are the links broken?

More Searching Help--

• 7 Steps to Better Searching

• 4 NETS to Better Searching

Copyright Issues

• What can you copy?• Give credit to what you have used.

Copyright

• Is the legal right of an author or artist to control the copying and use of their creative works.

• Taking something without permission is theft, including text and pictures from the Internet.

• Using someone else’s words without giving credit is called plagiarism.

• “Fair Use” concept lets teachers and students use portions of copyrighted works without permission.

What is protected by copyright?

• Literary works• Computer software• Musical works• Dramatic works• Motion pictures• Sound recordings

Before you copy, check the Fair Use Guidelines:

• Am I using this for a nonprofit, educational purpose?

• Am I only using a small portion?• Will the creator be deprived of future profits?

What can students copy?

• A single , hard copy for personal or educational use.• Limited amounts of websites.• Copies cannot be used for public or commercial use.• Students must cite the source of their information.• For multi-media projects:• Video clips—10% or three minutes• Music—10% but no more than 30 seconds.• Text—10% or 1000 words

For copyright help, refer to:

• The diocesan copyright policy• COPYRIGHT FOR SCHOOLS, by Carol Simpson• Copyright Bay• Copyright Kids• Cyberbee Copyright

Citing a website• Last name, first name of author.• If there is no author listed, begin with the title.

• “Title of article within the website.” • Put quote marks around the title

• Name of website. • Underline the name

• Date article was written. • Put the date first, then abbreviate the month.

• Date you accessed the article.• URL. • If the URL won’t fit on one line, break it at a slash. Include the entire URL, not just the one for the home page.

More Help For Works Cited:

• MLA Style• Citation Machine

Example:

Adams, Joyce. “How Vatican II changed the face of the

Catholic Church.” Catholic News Service. 2 Sept. 2003.

13 Oct. 2003 <http://www.catholicnews.net/

vatican.html> .

Staying Safe On-line

• Don’t give out personal information.• (phone number, address, pictures)

• Use Christian courtesy in e-mails and chat rooms.• Don’t arrange to meet with someone from online without

telling your parents.• Do tell your parents about inappropriate websites that you

run across.• Be careful what you post in a public forum.

*

Remember:

You leave “electronic footprints” wherever you go on the web.

Works Cited

• Books• Jones, Debra. Exploring the Internet. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.,

1999.• Simpson, Carol, and McElmeel, Sharron L. Internet for Schools: A Practical Guide,

3rd ed. Worthington, Ohio: Linworth Publishing,Inc., 2000.

• Websites• Adams, Helen, and Beyers, Catherine. “Lesson 2: Finding Information on

the Internet.” American Library Association. Dec. 15, 2003. <http://www.ala.org/cfapps/archive.cfm?path=ICONNfclesson2.html>.

•Dodge, Bernie. “Seven Steps to Better Searching.” San Diego State University College of Education. July 8, 1999. 15 Nov. 2001.<http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/tpss99/searching/ sevensteps.htm.>

Knowledge is power.

Librarians Rule.