FINDING WHAT YOU WANT ON THE INTERNET

STEP 1: DETERMINE WHAT YOU WANT TO FIND First, in one or two sentences, state what you want to find on the Internet. For example: “I want to find information about blood diamonds”.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY KEYWORDS Next, underline the main concepts in the statement. Blood diamonds

STEP 3: SELECT SYNONYMS AND OTHER WORDS ON TOPIC Conflict diamonds, Sierra Leone, Africa, Angola

Step 4: Place phrases inside quotation marks so that they will be searched for as a phrase instead of separate words “blood diamonds” OR “conflict diamonds”

STEP 5: CHECK YOUR SPELLING * although Google now has a handy tool that asks if you want alternate (correct) spelling!

STEP 6: CONSIDER USING A DIRECTORY TO HELP NARROW YOUR SEARCH A search engine lets you seek out specific words and phrases in Web pages. A directory is more like a subject catalog in the library--a human being has determined the main point of a Web page and has categorized it based on a classification scheme of topics and subtopics used by that directory.

MAKING USE OF WHAT YOU FIND ON THE INTERNET

The Web is a self-publishing medium. ANYONE can create a website…

SO… ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING FIVE QUESTIONS: Yes…ANYONE!

WHO?WHY?WHEN?HOW?WHAT?

WHO is publishing the site? Who wrote the page? Can you contact him or her? Is this person or organization authentic and qualified? Check the domain of the page.

LOOK for clues … for the source of a web site in the domain name (in the url or "address") For example, most often:.edu = either an educational or affiliated institution,.com = commercial enterprise (which may have a financial reason for promoting a product or site),.gov = government agency,and.org = organization

Homepages of individuals … Look for a personal name, a tilde ( ~ ), a percent sign ( % ), or or the words "users," "members," or "people." Is the server a commercial ISP* or other provider mostly of web page hosting (like aol.com or geocities.com)?ISP

SITE INFORMATION Use for website information: Simply paste the address into the search box. You will see, depending on the volume of traffic to the page: Traffic rank Subjective reviews "Site statistics" including some page history, sites that link to the page Contact/ownership info for the domain name A link to the Internet archive of website history "Wayback Machine"Wayback Machine

Let’s see how credible these websites or images seem: awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teachable_moments/photo_truth.cfm homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/digital.html

WHY was this page created? Was it… to function as a resource (information)? for public relations? to promote a cause? for a teaching aide? to sell a product? to show long-distance relatives wedding or baby pictures? !!

If you know ALL of this, then you can make intelligent assessments about any potential bias: National Rifle Association Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Pharmaceutical Company

WHEN was the site last updated? When was it produced? When was it updated? Are the links working and updated?

HOW easy is the site to use? Some of the more annoying or cumbersome features include: new browser windows opening unexpectedly pop-up ads annoying color schemes tiny graphics for buttons flashing buttons use of frames dead links

WHAT is the REAL value of this web site to your research? Be clear about what you are looking for before you begin Try not to be distracted and taken off task Take notes on what you learned from the site so that you don’t waste time

CITING INTERNET SOURCES Author. (Copyright date or date last updated). Title. [date of document download.] Use the Citation Machine at: CHHS Library Website or

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR RESEARCH!