Using Search Engines Effectively

“Predominantly, the content of the Net is information and opinion; what tends to be in shorter supply are specific learning activities that that make use of this wealth. So the bottom line stands: the Internet is an embarrassment of riches that is next to worthless without an educator (You!) to facilitate learning and integration in your classrooms.” Tom March

Reflect on this statement and discuss how it applies to the way you have been using Web-based resources for teaching and learning.

How can the many different search engines available today meet individual searching goals?

Information Literacy:

Of all that is available, you must first begin by defining your needs. Use Noodle Tools to learn how you can find news based on what you need. Click on the link “View the Tutorial on Finding News.” Identify how this can be a valuable resource to linking real-world application to learning.

Noodle Tools Link:

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

What Makes A Search Engine Good?

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SrchEngCriteria.pdf

Bare Bones Info on Search Engines:

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html

Four NETS for Better Searching – by Bernie Dodge

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/fournets.htm

Using Operators in Searching

And/Or – The AND/OR operators are among the easiest to use and understand. The AND operator instructs the search engine to search for all documents containing both key words you specify. The OR operator instructs the search engine to search for documents containing either key word you specify.

Use www.yahoo.com (a search engine that searches by categories) to search for dogs. See how many hits you receive. Now refine your search by using key words dogs AND breeds. See the number of hits. Refine your search further by choosing dogs AND labrador OR retriever. Note the hits. Try a different search engine to see a comparison of the information returned.

NOT/- -- Sometimes it’s easier to narrow a search by specifying what you are NOT looking for. The NOT operator excludes documents containing a key word you specify. Some search engines use the – symbol as the operator, which works the same way as the NOT operator.

Use www.hotbot.com and look for carbon monoxide poison AND symptoms and click the search button. Note the hits returned. Next, add NOT .com and click search to reduce the chance of your hits being businesses advertising carbon monoxide detectors. Many of the remaining sites are educational or organizations that will (hopefully) contain useful information.

Near/Adj

The NEAR/ADJ operators are used by more advanced search engines. These operators look for key words in a certain proximity to another key word. For example, the NEAR operator would look for tornadoes NEAR Texas and usually defaults to within 25 words. You can change the proximity to within 5 words by using NEAR/5, where 5 can be any number. Most search engines don’t check for word order, so tornadoes could be within 5 words before or after Texas.

The ADJ operator stands for adjacent. This operator will return only documents in which, say, George is adjacent to Washington. ADJ is more strict than NEAR and will return fewer hits.

Go to www.lycos.com and use the advanced search to key volleyball NEAR indoor. Look at the hits. Some contain info about outdoor volleyball. Add the NOT operator to eliminate those sites. Now enter volleyball NEAR indoor NOT outdoor. This trims the list even more. Now try the search with the ADJ operator. Key in volleyball ADJ indoor. Note the number of hits. Add the NOT operator to eliminate references to outdoor volleyball.

Parenthesis

Parenthesis work in a similar fashion to parenthesis in mathematics. They set up groups of operations that must be performed before other parts of the operation can be completed. Parenthesis can be used to filter all sorts of lists and can be combined with most search operators.

Go to http://vivisimo.com/ and use the advanced search to find “PowerPoint Presentation” AND “science lesson” NOT “high school” OR college

Saving Web Addresses in Favorites

When you use Microsoft Internet Explorer and find a Web site that may be useful, save it in your Favorites folder. To save a Web site in your Favorites folder, follow the steps below:

1. When you are on the page that you want to save, on the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites

2. The first time you add a Favorite, create a special folder specifically for the Web site using a subject category or folder name. Click New Folder

3. Type a name for the folder that fits the category of the Web site you selected. Later you can add subfolders to this main folder.

4. Click ok

5. Look at the folders in the Create In box. Your new folder should appear in the list. Click your new folder to select it.

6. In the Name box, review the name that automatically came up for the current site. If the name is not clear, type a new name that is more recognizable.

7. Click ok

Evaluating Web Sites… Techniques and Tips to Apply

UC Berkley Site

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

In the exercises below, practice using operators to refine your searches appropriate to your needs.

Practicing…

• Search for Web sites that will be helpful in creating a presentation or PowerPoint project to use with your students in your curriculum area. Create a folder to save your idea sites.
• Search for Web sites that will be helpful in creating a lesson whereby your students will do research to complete a student-centered project for your curriculum area. Create a folder to save your idea sites
• Search for Web sites that will be helpful in creating a lesson whereby your students will create a problem or project-based product in an area related to your curriculum. Create a folder to save your idea sites.
• Search for rubrics to lessons you might use involving technology in your curriculum area. Save the rubric ideas in an already created folder or create a new one.

Collaborative Searching…

• With the help of a colleague, find a technology-based lesson that applies cross-curricular standards and identify how you could use that to team teach
• Find at least three sites that are additional resources for teaching students how to use search engines in your class. Bookmark them. Use e-mail to share these sites with at least two of your colleagues.

Notes…