Introduction to searching online

INTRODUCTION TO SEARCHING ONLINECOURTESY OF GCG LEARNFREE.ORG

Presented by Celia Bandelier

Why you need to know

In today's world, more and more things are done online. Even if you don't consider yourself a computer person, you now need computer skills in order to conduct research, shop online, keep in touch with family, and more.

Internet Literacy

The ability to search for information online is one of the most important information literacy skills you can possess.

By improving your search skills, you can find what you're looking for more quickly without having to sift through tons of irrelevant results.

I’ll give you some information literacy strategies to help you improve your searches and evaluate your results to find the most reliable information.

Google

To find what you are looking for on the Internet, the first step is usually a basic search engine search i.e. Google.

Go to www.google.com And enter your search.

Don’t give up

You may not find the answers you are looking for on the first try.

If you don’t try refining your search Go more basic to expand your search Or go more specific to limit your search

Think of other search term You may need a more specialized site for

your search.

Remember

If you can find the right search terms, you can find anything on the Internet.

The web isn’t magic

Search engines like Google can find almost anything, but they can’t understand complex questions like: How’s the weather in California? Where can I get a cup of coffee?

The web is smarter than you think Search for keywords instead of questions

and you’ll probably find exactly what you’re looking for: Weather San Francisco Coffee

Not always reliable

Just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s true.

There is no guarantee that the results of your search are accurate, unbiased or up-to-date.

For example, an article on a celebrity gossip website is probably not the best source for reliable information.

Wide variety of content

That’s the great thing about the Internet, it give you access to everything—the good, the bad, and everything in between.

You just have to be mindful of the difference between personal opinion and resources that are reliable and reputable.

You can’t copy and paste someone else’s work Even though you “just found it on the

Internet,” it still belongs to someone. Plagiarism is plagiarism, whether you’re

writing a presentation, a research paper or a personal post for your blog.

Create your own masterpiece You just have to follow the rules.

Always state your findings in your own words.

Give credit where credit is due. Be respectful of copyright and fair use laws.

Search engines

Search engines are specialized websites that can help you find what you're looking for. You've probably heard of some of the most popular ones—including Google, Yahoo!, and Bing—even if you've never used them.

Same information, same results??? With these three search engines in mind, you

may be wondering, "What's the difference?" They all have access to the same information (i.e., the contents of the Internet), so they should return the same results, right?

Not necessarily. Different search engines can yield different search results. Google is the most popular search engine because it's the most effective at finding what you're looking for. On average, it produces more relevant results than Yahoo! or Bing, and it's better at organizing and filtering them. For this reason, we will focus on Google.

Search Bar

Your browser's search bar is probably set to Google by default.

However, if it is set to something else (for example, Yahoo! or Bing), you can easily change it to Google. To find out how, visit Make Google my default search engine on Google's support site.

The steps are different for each browser, so make sure you follow the instructions for the one you're using.

Types of websites

When you're looking for information online, it's a good idea to be aware of what types of websites are available and what kind of information they contain.

Depending on what you're looking for, you may find that certain types are more relevant to your search than others.

Commercial Website

The main purpose of these sites are to promote or sell their product.

May have good information. Often the information is not unbiased

and should be checked with other sources.

Usual address ends in .com

Organization Website

Main purpose is to promote their cause. Usually have an agenda. May have good information. Often the information is not unbiased

and should be checked with other sources.

Usually address ends in .org

News Website

More and more people are getting their news from the Internet.

Usually reliable and up-to-date. Be sure to check the date of the article

as older articles are often left on the site.

Blogs

Blogs are “web logs”. They are a type of diary. Have good information on many topics. Updated frequently sometimes more

than once a day.

Wikis

Most common is wikipedia Users can modify or add to the content. Reliability varies. Best one site sources of the information

so the information can be verified.

School websites

These are created to share information about the schools.

Some have pages which contain information posted by teachers about lessons. These pages are reliable.

But be careful as some pages of the information posted is done by students which may not be as reliable.

Usually address ends in .edu

Scholarly Sites

These site contain scholarly items such as dissertation or academic journals.

To find this type of information, Search Google Scholar.

Databases

Databases are collections of information. The information is gathered from

different sources. One example is Internet Movie

Database. Good place to go to find what movies an

actor has been in.

Forums

Forums are places where people have discussions.

Good place for answers about specific products or services.

Information often stays up long after the discussion has ended.

Often come up in Google searches.

Question & Answer sites

A lot like forum but focus is on answering the question rather than discussing it.

Example is Yahoo! Answers.

Organizing your search

Being search savvy isn't just about finding information online. It's also about being able to save and organize the sites you've searched for so you can easily find them later. The simplest way to do this is to bookmark a site.

Bookmarks (Favorites)

Every web browser lets you create bookmarks (sometimes called favorites), and they also let you rename and organize your bookmarks. Even though it takes a second to create a bookmark, it can save you time because you won't have to search the Web to find it again.

Cloud-based bookmarking

One disadvantage of traditional bookmarks is that you won't be able to access them from a different computer.

To solve this problem, you can use a cloud-based bookmarking service, which stores your bookmarks online.

This means you'll be able to access them from any computer or device that has an Internet connection.

Examples

Google Bookmarks: If you have a Google account, you can view and add bookmarks whenever you are signed in.

Diigo: Diigo allows you to do more than just bookmark sites. You can also highlight part of a page, add comments, and share bookmarks with other people. There is a free version, and you can also purchase a premium plan that includes more features.

Delicious: Delicious makes it easy to share bookmarks with other people, which is especially useful if you are collaborating with coworkers or friends. Bookmarks can be grouped into Stacks, which you can share with other people. You can also follow Stacks you find interesting.

Springpad: In addition to saving bookmarks, Springpad includes productivity features like note-taking, to-do lists, and reminders. Like Delicious, Springpad lets you share bookmarks with other people.

Google Chrome: If you use Chrome as your main browser, you may prefer to use its bookmark syncingfeature. Whenever you are signed in to Chrome, your bookmarks and other settings are synced with your Google account. You can access your bookmarks from any computer by simply signing in to Chrome.

Safety note

Generally, you shouldn't sign in to Chrome on a public computer, since it saves some of your data to the computer.

Even after you sign out, other people may be able to access your personal data. 

What type of website is….

www.boots.com www.amazon.com www.campsimcha.org www.rspca.org.uk www.oxfam.org www.mtsmichael.org www.smowschool.org www.miamiartcharter.net

More websites

www.southshorefinearts.org www.bestsurvivalknifedude.com www.totallydogsblog.com www.boardingarea.com www.techcrunch.com www.acronymfinder.com www.allgame.com www.hoovers.com

More websites

http://libguides.csuchico.edu/scholarly http://biology.merlot.org http://www.mybbsecurity.net http://mybbsource.com http://hackforums.net http://www.huffingtonpost.com http://www.theguardian.com http://www.usatoday.com

The end

Thank you for attending. For more information, contact

Celia Bandelier, Library Director Roanoke Public Library