Upload
derrick-atkins
View
218
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Searching the Web
Deborah Healey, Ph.D.English Language InstituteOregon State [email protected]://oregonstate.edu/~healeyd
Agenda
Why search? Vocabulary Using search engines
Keyword Directory Metasearch Specialty
Refining a search Evaluating sources
Your opinion
The Internet has a lot of useful information.
I need to know more about searching the Web.
I like searching the Web for information.
Students usually find what they need. I do a good job of evaluating websites.
Why search?
To find basic information about a topic To find graphics related to a topic To find current news To get different points of view To find deeper information about a
topic To buy something
Web search overview
VocabularySearch engine (Google, Ask, and
many more)Metasearch engine (Excite, Ixquick)Query (your topic)Hit or Entry (each website related to
your question)To Google someone >
Using search engines
Think first What am I looking for? Which search engine
is best? Key words
Techniques Most important word first Quotation marks for phrases Larger category (if not enough hits) Smaller category (if too many hits) Advanced search
Using search engines
Choose the right engine for the task Key word (Google, MSN) vs. directory
• Directory: When you don’t know exactly what you want or looking for a topic
• Google Directory (directory.google.com, Yahoo Directory (dir.yahoo.com/), About (http://azlist.about.com/a.htm)
• High-quality: Librarians Internet Index (http://lii.org/)
Metasearch (Excite, Ixquick)
Sample search: American holidays Google MSN Ask – start screen Librarians Internet Index Excite (metasearch) Ixquick (metasearch)
Ask Jeeves/Teoma – MSN – Wikipedia - EntireWeb – Netscape - Yahoo - Gigablast - Open Directory
Ask.com – American Holidays search
Which search engine?
Choosing the right search engine: Noodle Tools -> Search engine comparison - www.noodletools.com/
Specialty searches
Noodle Tools samples
Kartoo – visual results -
KidsClick! – good sites for children Academic links
Google Scholar and Intute – academic sites• Sample concordance search • Yourdictionary.com – Dictionaries
Pinakes – gateway to portals Biography.com
(www.biography.com/search/)– biographical information
Kartoo – American Holidays
Kartoo – American holidays
Refining a search
Most important word first Quotation marks around phrases + and - to limit a search
Boolean operators exercise Expand a search with OR
Site: to keep a search on a specific website >
Practice: boolean operators
Which letters show
B +C?
A +B +C?
A OR B?
(A OR B) -C?
(B OR C) -A?
Practice: Boolean searches
AND (+) => must have both+Oregon +wildflowers+peanut +butter
OR => either onecougar OR puma
NOT (-) => don’t includepeanut -butter Beavers -OSU
Practice: broader and narrowerPut the following terms in order from broadest to
narrowest: a) Asia b) Vietnam c) East Asia d) Danang
a) grammar b) English c) subject-verb agreement d) nouns and verbs e) language
Alternate phrasing
If you’re not finding the right information
Think: Is there another way to say this?American holidays – US holidays –
holidays United States Should there be another key word?
American holidays historyAmerican holidays dates
Improving Google searches
Adapted from Simson Garfinkel, “Getting more from Google.”
Technology Review, June 4, 2003. Click on Preferences; select 30 or more hits per
page Use OR to broaden a search Use * as a wild card in a phrase (substitute any
word) “English as a * Language” = 2nd, Second, Foreign,
etc. More possibilities at Advanced Search >
Evaluating sources
Remember: Anyone can have a web site! You are the librarian for the web What is the date? Who is the author? Where is the author from (.com, .edu, .org)? What is the content?
Bibliography Balanced view or personal view
Practice: Sources
Rank the following sources from 1 (no academic purpose) to 6 (highly reliable).
An article in Wikipedia. A comment from someone in a Blog called
'Tech Talk.' An e-mail message from a friend about
something that happened to a friend of his last year. >
Ranking, continued
Rank the following sources from 1 (no academic purpose) to 6 (highly reliable).
A message on a mailing list for teachers (TESL-L), written by a well-known person (David Nunan).
A recent article in an online refereed journal, with a bibliography.
Three paragraphs' worth of information you found through a web search. >
Teacher’s role
Help students understand about sources and the Internet
Teach students better search techniques
Don’t tell students “Just search for a topic on Google” Only for advanced language learnersUnless they’re buying something
Teacher’s role
You do the searching – give students appropriate linksAge-appropriateEnglish proficiency-appropriatePurpose-appropriate
Let students choose among links you’ve selectedDoesn’t waste classroom/student time
Library analogy
Happy Searching!