1. ITIS 1210 Introduction to Web-Based Information Systems Internet Research Three Browsing Subject Guides

2. Introduction  Subject guides  aka subject directories, Internet directories, subject trees  Subject guides  Help focus searches  Useful if your knowledge of the subject is too limited to judge the results you get from regular search engines  Group information by topic  Lets you see both breadth and depth

3. Introduction  Browse by “drilling down”  Navigate through hierarchical subject headings  Upper levels are general  Lower levels more and more specific  Some permit keyword searches also

4. Understanding Subject Guides  Data typically compiled and arranged by experts  Offers greater selectivity and quality of data  But less coverage than regular search engines  Emphasis on quality not quantity  Links may be annotated with useful information

5. Understanding Subject Guides  Subject guide resource: http://www.lib.lsu.edu/weblio.html  Librarians’ Index to the Internet: www.lii.org www.lii.org  Click a bold topic to see a list of sub-topics  Click a non-bold topic to see a list of Web pages about that topic

6. Understanding Subject Guides  Searchable  UC Berkeley UC Berkeley UC Berkeley  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Subj Directories.html  infomine.ucr.edu infomine.ucr.edu  Annotations  Summaries or reviews of Web page content  Usually written by a subject guide contributors  Typically an expert in the field  http://www.lii.org/pub/topic/webdesign

7. Understanding Subject Guides  Distributed subject guides  WWW Virtual Library - http://vlib.org/ http://vlib.org/  Open Directory Project - http://dmoz.org/ http://dmoz.org/  Created by contributors working independently  Each group/person responsible for a subtopic

8. Understanding Subject Guides  Not stored on one computer  Distributed to different computers around the Web  Many independent contributors have  Different levels of expertise  Varying resources  May make distributed subject guides of uneven quality and show lack of standardization

9. Understanding Subject Guides  Maintenance by experts  Balances problems with quality  They know best what’s available on the Web  Topics may be organized differently between different guides  “energy” under “Science” in one, under “Engineering” in another

10. Understanding Subject Guides  Searchable subject guides typically search only their own data

11. Understanding Subject Guides  Trailblazer pages  Created by scholars and experts  Trying to organize and link to the best Web sites in their field  Excellent source for reliable information  May be broad or narrow in scope  All trying to cover their topic well

12. Understanding Subject Guides  Usually provides  Links to useful sites  Logical way of navigating subject  May provide  Search capability  Site map  Example: EERE EERE

13. Understanding Subject Guides  Trailblazer pages  Example: http://www.eere.energy.gov/

14. Specialized Search Engines  Specialized search engines  Best features of regular search engines  Subject guides  Limit the Web pages they search for  Available for  Law  Medicine  Technology

15. Specialized Search Engines  Where do you find specialized search engines?  http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/specialized.html http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/specialized.html

16. Evaluation Criteria  Standards to determine if a Web page is appropriate for your needs  How does Web information get to you?  Directly from author  Via an editorial process  Online journals  Recommended  Search engine

17. Appropriate Authority Organization Scope Currency Objectivity & Accuracy

18. Evaluation Criteria  Authority (credibility/reliability)  Is the author identified?  Are their qualifications identified?  Are resources documented?  Is there contact information for the author(s)?  Is the author associated with  University  Organization  Government agency

19. Evaluation Criteria  Organization (appearance vs. content)  Is site well designed, functional?  Easy to navigate?  Searchable?  Site map or Help page?

20. Evaluation Criteria  Scope (range of topics)  Who is the intended audience?  Students, professionals, amateurs?  Introduction explaining purpose of site?  Is scope appropriate for your needs?  Too broad  Too narrow

21. Evaluation Criteria  Currency (timeliness)  Creation/revision date?  Broken links  Not being maintained

22. Evaluation Criteria  Objectivity & accuracy  Advocacy is OK if revealed  Does author state purpose of site?  Content presented as fact or opinion?  Are resources well documented?  Host of site identified?  What do other sites say about this site or its author?