INTERNET SEARCHINGWeek 4

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZoMbBzqxyc&feature=related

LET’S NAME SOME SEARCH ENGINES

Probably the most familiar is Google! For most people, this is their favorite “go-to” place for information.

How about Yahoo! How many use this search engine?

Bing? Anyone familiar with this one?

There are differences between them as we shall see later.

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES RANK RESULTS?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QRv_bCzEI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KMFC3XtYD0&feature=related

There are actual reasons why the results you find show up in the order that they do.

These videos showed us that algorithms, links, keywords, and money all pay a factor in what shows up on the first page of results!

So, does that mean that the top 10 results are necessarily the best?

HOW TO SEARCH THE INTERNET You probably use the Internet all the time to search for information.

But do you know how to search effectively?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8aYoVpdz8o&feature=related

Remember the tips from this video.

Put quotes around words you want to keep together.

When searching for information, try to imagine what the best website would look like. What does it say? What words does it contain? Use these words in your searches.

WHAT ABOUT WIKIPEDIA? Almost everyone has used Wikipedia to find information.

I think it is a great starting point to discovering an OVERVIEW of a topic but is NOT a good quality resource to use on your papers and exams.

So what is Wikipedia exactly?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY8otRh1QPc

Do you trust the information you find on Wikipedia?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yKNJCTck4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFBDn5PiL00&feature=related

THINK ABOUT THIS! http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_biography_controversy

It should be apparent now how easy it is to create content on Wikipedia, even completely false content.

I am not saying to stop using Wikipedia. Just be cautious in how you USE the information you find there.

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

We will now compare four different search engines to see how they are different.

Then we will do this week’s quiz.

You may work alone or with another person.

FOR NEXT WEEK’S CLASS No quiz next week.

Complete “Research Assignment #4” which has you finding four resources for your topic.

Have a great weekend!

ONE MINUTE WRITE-UPS

Please answer/address the following questions.

1. What did you think of the in-class activity on the different search engines?

2. How do you like having a class site where you go to find the class lectures and homework?

3. So far, what do you think is LEAST effective in terms of my teaching the material?