Utilizing the Web & Primary Sources Chisa Uyeki LIBR 150: F06, Week 4 Start Page

What’s in a domain.gov,.mil,.us, or other country code (.uk) = government sites.edu = educational sites.org = Nonprofit organizations.com = commercial & everything But unregulated

Evalution Criteria Author or creator (check under About or Contact) Date of creation/update Footnotes, bibliography, references, or evidence Active links (for additional info &/or reference) Wiki-warning

Personal Pages Personal names (Lbrown or samsmith) after % or ~ Creator’s credentials or authority Know what you’re looking at

Evaluation Resources Consumer Report’s Webwatch Google alexa for traffic info

Trusted starting places Infomine Librarian’s Index to the internet Internet Public Library

Searching the Web Free vs. fee Visible vs. Invisible web (more visible now) Not searching whole web  tool’s dbase

In-Class Exercise

Search tools Search Engines  Spiders  Full-text & cache  Unevaluated Subject Directories  Human selection  Organized by subject  Some abstracts/desc. Meta Searches  1-stop shopping  Less control  Often exclude Google results Databases  Mostly invisible  Thru Library Web  Dynamically generated (by you!)

Using Search Engines Internet/Strategies.html (#2) Internet/Strategies.html Internet/SubjDirectories.html (chart- LII.org info) Internet/ThingsToKnow.html (table) Internet/SubjDirectories.html Internet/ThingsToKnow.html Internet/ToolsTables.html Internet/ToolsTables.html

PRIMARYSECONDARYTERTIARY DEFINITIONS Sources that contain raw, original, uninterrupted and unevaluated information. Sources that digest, analyze, evaluate and interpret the information contained within primary sources. They tend to be argumentative. Sources that compile, analyze, and digest secondary sources. They tend to be factual. FORMATS depends on the kind of analysis being conducted. Often newspapers, weekly and monthly-produced magazines; letters, diaries. Often scholarly periodicals and books. (Professors like these.) Often reference books. From: Diablo Valley College, Identifying Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources,

Primary vs. Secondary What’s the difference? Primary Sources: Firsthand testimony or direct evidence Contemporary accounts Original documents Secondary Sources: A step removed from event or phenomenon Provide interpretation of primary sources Both come in a variety of formats

Information Cycle Timeline of Information Creation

Thinking about Primary Sources What are the primary materials of your own life?

Primary Resources: What are they? Includes (but not limited to): Addresses Events Pictorial works Autobiographies Eyewitness Personal narratives Correspondences Interviews Diaries Letters Speeches Documents Memoirs Transcript Evidence Oral history

Where are they? Sources for Primary Resources Depends upon the format of the resource…  Start with background information  Library catalog  Archival Collections and Special Collections  Newspaper indexes or databases  Reference resources

How do you find them? Start with background information Searching the web (be cautious)- search for- archive or library and subject

Primary Resources Online CSULA Library: What are Primary Sources? htm htm LA, Past, Present & Future Historical Los Angeles Times (and other databases) Historical Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Public Library Photo Archive

Resources Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask ( Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html) Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html Searching the Internet ( Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html) Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html