Understanding

Web SearchEllen Gustafson

It all starts with an

INFORMATION NEED.

Where is the riptide?

What TV shows are showing on Saturday night?

When is the next full moon?

Where is the nearest post office?

When does daylight savings time begin?

How can I get from San Francisco to Baltimore?

Where can I get a fake ID?

What country has twice as many sheep as people?

http://www.polleverywhere.com/my/polls

You'll need a cell phone (with texting

capabilities) or a computer with internet

connection for this next activity.

Yes, it's okay to take out your phone in class.

Before we get started...

A search engine is

a TOOL and a TEXT.Use it like a lever.

Read it like a book.

Concept Mapping

This video:

http://youtu.

be/BNHR6IQJGZs

For additional

information and

resources, visit:

http://www.google.

com/insidesearch/

howsearchworks/t

hestory/

How to use the search engine

to your advantage...

Formulate your search...

Focus on desired results

Use key words / ideas

Utilize strategies

In essence, think like a machine!

"exact phrase"

one OR the other

exclude -this

include all ending*

only search site:example.edu

include unknown * here

no punctuation

... you can even search an image!

For more tips and tricks, visit http:

//www.google.

com/intl/en/insidesearch/tipstricks/basi

cs.html and https://support.google.

com/websearch/

answer/136861?hl=en. You can even

take an online course to increase

your Google Fu at http://www.

powersearchingwithgoogle.com/

Evaluate results

Reliability

Relevance

Intention

Number - Do you need to try again?

Let's put it all together

and practice... If you were in the basin of the Somme River at summer’s end in 1918, what language would you have had to speak to understand coded British communications?

The question on this slide was created by Google Education, accessed from http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html#challenges, and used thanks to a CC-BY license

If you were in the basin of the Somme River at summer’s end in 1918, what language would you have had to speak to understand coded British communications?

Thinking out loud... What are we trying

to find?

What do we need to

know to find it? ○ place?

○ why 1918?

○ speaking the language?

Closing Thoughts:

What did you learn about search engines

and/or search strategies from this lesson

that you didn't know before?