Looking For Information

	With over one billion documents already available on the Internet, finding relevant information can be quite tedious. The the ability to identify, select, and evaluate information is an important new skill to learn. 1. Selecting a Search Tool If you're researching a reasonably common topic with a reasonably common theme, use a general index (a site that divides pages up into categories, like Yahoo!) before you use a general search engine (a site that indexes every word of every page it catalogs, like Alta Vista). If there's one available, use a topic specific index before you use a general one. For example, if you're researching vitamins, you'd want to use a health index like Achoo For a comprehensive ONLINE resource about searching check http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/major.html 2. There are essentially three categories of search tools: Directories/Index.  Directories are like card catalogs and manned by people that browse the Internet, locate and evaluate documents, and classify them. You locate information from a directory by identifying the category and then subcategory until your information has been found. Directory search tools include: YAHOO  http://www.yahoo.com Magellan http://magellan.excite.com LookSmart http://www.looksmart.com Search Engines.  Search engines are basically databases of Internet sites that allow you to locate information by using keyword queries. The first task in finding information using a search engine is to articulate exactly what you are looking for. Identify the words or phrases that best describe your query. AltaVista  http://www.altavista.com Excite  http://www.excite.com Lycos  http://www.lycos.com InfoSeek http://www.infoseek.com HotBot http://www.hotbot.com Northern Lights http://www.northernlight.com Meta Search Engines These are services that send out a number of queries through a number of search engines at once. You will get the most responses, although some may be duplicates, using this kind of tool. MetaCrawler http://www.go2net.com/search.html Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com Google http://google.com Sentence Searchers The newest software in search engines lets you ask whole word sentences and searches phrases to help you identify your information AskJeeves http://aj.com Also Check out Specialty Search Engines that focus on News, people, shopping, listservs, etc. at *http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/specialty.html How to narrow the search   All search engines will have a link somewhere on the page that will lead you to more advanced search techniques. You should look at this information to help you use each search engine more effectively. Each engine has different strengths and weaknesses. Check out *Boolean Search Techniques for more effective  searching techniques.  3. Interpreting Search Results It is said that an ideal search finds about 50 hits. If you are finding too few, try another search engine or use broader terms. If you find too many, try narrower terms, more keywords or include your terms in quotes. Results are returned in rank order of relevancy Before setting off to chase down your links, read the search results.
	We are going to conduct some research together to compare how effective different search tools are in locating specific information. You are going to use some of the most popular search tools representing each of the categories of engines to locate information about mutant frogs. Activity two: Fill in the *chart and we will compare and discuss our results under the discussion topic Search Comparison Results.
	For a site that describes and links to many Internet search tools visit http://www.virtualfreesites.com/search.html To find links to regular and specialty search engines, check out Needle in a Cyberstack at http://members.home.net/albeej/ Online Search Tutorials University of Albany Tutorials: Excellent tutorials cover a range of topics including basic Internet use, research guides, search tools, and using Netscape Navigator. Internet Resources from UC Berkeley Library: Another excellent resource about Internet searching and research tools. Includes a number of downloadable PDF files for workshops on Internet Searching. Scout Tool, Searching The Internet , Univ. of Wisconsin: The Scout Toolkit is a useful collection of online materials compiled by the Internet Scout Project to help you "surf smarter". Search Engine Comparison Chart: From the Kansas City Library a simple matrix comparing common search engines features.
	One way to engage students in practicing their searching skills is through the use of Scavenger Hunts. Some reasons to use them are explained by the Spartanburg School District-*Why use Scavenger Hunts. Just like a traditional one, participants have to locate particular objects. On virtual scavenger hunts participants can locate information as well. With younger students, you might want them to locate information about a particular site to see how well they can follow menu links and identify categories of information. Examples of these kinds of scavenger hunts can be found at :  Kids on Campus Internet Scavenger Hunt, Montessori School of Santa Barbara Scavenger Hunt,  Internet Scavenger Hunt from Balboa Middle School,   Internet Scavenger Hunt. 13 Colonies Scavenger Hunt For older students you can have them use search engines to locate the URL's of specific information. Some examples of these kinds of sites can be examined at: Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board  A World Wide Web Scavenger Hunt Swarthmore College Fun Scavenger Hunt Scavenger Hunt-Select a Decade First you will (Activity three) *compete this scavenger hunt to locate some interesting objects and information on the Internet. To complete this activity you can download the scavenger hunt items list and open it in Word or as atext document to open in your favorite Word Processor. Then send it as an attachment with your discussion message. (Activity four) Then you will construct your own scavenger hunt on a topic that you can use with your students.  We will share these on your student web page. Click on the student webpage button on the home page to create one. Your scavenger hunt should have 10 questions and identify the grade and subject it is geared towards. Your student web page is a place where you will place some assignments for sharing.  Your final site will not be limited by a template and will have a full range of options.
	Guiding Questions: What search short cuts have you discovered? What are some limitations of search engines? How will you teach this in your classroom? How will you apply what you learned about search engines to your strategies for locating information on the internet?