Searching the Web Deborah Healey, Ph.D. English Language Institute Oregon State University

Agenda Why search? Vocabulary Using search engines Keyword Directory Metasearch Specialty Refining a search Evaluating sources

Your opinion The Internet has a lot of useful information. I need to know more about searching the Web. I like searching the Web for information. Students usually find what they need. I do a good job of evaluating websites.

Why search? To find basic information about a topic To find graphics related to a topic To find current news To get different points of view To find deeper information about a topic To buy something

Web search overview Vocabulary Search engine (Google, Ask, and many more)GoogleAsk Metasearch engine (Excite, Ixquick)ExciteIxquick Query (your topic) Hit or Entry (each website related to your question) To Google someone >

Using search engines Think first What am I looking for? Which search engine is best? Key words Techniques Most important word first Quotation marks for phrases Larger category (if not enough hits) Smaller category (if too many hits) Advanced search

Using search engines Choose the right engine for the task Key word (Google, MSN) vs. directory Directory: When you don’t know exactly what you want or looking for a topic Google Directory (directory.google.com, Yahoo Directory (dir.yahoo.com/), About ( High-quality: Librarians Internet Index ( Metasearch (Excite, Ixquick)ExciteIxquick

Sample search: American holidays Google MSN AskAsk – start screenstart screen Librarians Internet Index ExciteExcite (metasearch) IxquickIxquick (metasearch) Ask Jeeves/Teoma – MSN – Wikipedia - EntireWeb – Netscape - Yahoo - Gigablast - Open Directory

Ask.com – American Holidays search

Which search engine? Choosing the right search engine: Noodle Tools -> Search engine comparison - Specialty searches

Noodle Tools samples Kartoo Kartoo – visual results - KidsClickKidsClick! – good sites for children Academic links Google Scholar and Intute – academic sites Google ScholarIntute Sample concordance search Yourdictionary.com – DictionariesYourdictionary.com Pinakes – gateway to portals Pinakes Biography.com ( biographical information Biography.comwww.biography.com/search/

Kartoo – American Holidays

Kartoo – American holidays

Refining a search Most important word first Quotation marks around phrases + and - to limit a search Boolean operators exercise Expand a search with OR Site: to keep a search on a specific website >

Practice: boolean operators Which letters show B +C? A +B +C? A OR B? (A OR B) -C? (B OR C) -A?

Practice: Boolean searches AND (+) => must have both +Oregon +wildflowers +peanut +butter OR => either one cougar OR puma NOT (-) => don’t include peanut -butter Beavers -OSU

Practice: broader and narrower Put the following terms in order from broadest to narrowest: a)Asia b)Vietnam c) East Asia d) Danang a)grammar b)English c)subject-verb agreement d)nouns and verbs e)language

Alternate phrasing If you’re not finding the right information Think: Is there another way to say this? American holidays – US holidays – holidays United States Should there be another key word? American holidays history American holidays dates

Improving Google searches Adapted from Simson Garfinkel, “Getting more from Google.” Technology Review, June 4, Click on Preferences; select 30 or more hits per page Use OR to broaden a search Use * as a wild card in a phrase (substitute any word) “English as a * Language” = 2 nd, Second, Foreign, etc. More possibilities at Advanced Search >

Evaluating sources Remember: Anyone can have a web site! You are the librarian for the web What is the date? Who is the author? Where is the author from (.com,.edu,.org)? What is the content? Bibliography Balanced view or personal view

Practice: Sources Rank the following sources from 1 (no academic purpose) to 6 (highly reliable). An article in Wikipedia. A comment from someone in a Blog called 'Tech Talk.' An message from a friend about something that happened to a friend of his last year. >

Ranking, continued Rank the following sources from 1 (no academic purpose) to 6 (highly reliable). A message on a mailing list for teachers (TESL-L), written by a well-known person (David Nunan). A recent article in an online refereed journal, with a bibliography. Three paragraphs' worth of information you found through a web search. >

Teacher’s role Help students understand about sources and the Internet Teach students better search techniques Don’t tell students “Just search for a topic on Google” Only for advanced language learners Unless they’re buying something

Teacher’s role You do the searching – give students appropriate links Age-appropriate English proficiency-appropriate Purpose-appropriate Let students choose among links you’ve selected Doesn’t waste classroom/student time Library analogy

Happy Searching!