3. Finding the Information
Internet
• Search engines
– Search for key words
• Google
• Yahoo
• Dogpile.com
• Web directories
– The web organized by topic into
categories
• Librarians’ Internet Index: lii.org
• Google
• Yahoo
4. Finding the Information
• Wikipedia
– How it works
• Anybody can contribute to it at
anytime
• The information is NOT verified
– Good place to START
• Like an encyclopedia
– Need to evaluate
• Next week!!
5. Find the Information
•Public library
•OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)
•Electronic resources
•SBBCollege
•OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)
•Virtual library
•LIRN
6. Homework for this Session
• Find a website that helps you answer
any one or all of your questions
− Use the keywords from your outline to
search with
− Practice using the tools and shortcuts
learned in this class
− Choose the best website you find
− Add the address to your project
− Do NOT use Wikipedia
• Due by next session!
7. What is true about OPACs?
A. It lists all of the books in alphabetical
order, so you can browse for what you
are looking for
B. It includes all the information in all the
material it has catalogued
C. You can find what is available on other
SBBCollege campuses through our
OPAC and request to borrow it
D. The SBBCollege OPAC only shows what is
at our campus CommandButton1
8. What is true about Google?
A. The most reliable websites will be at
the top of the results
B. You can use words and symbols to
refine your search to for more
precise results
C. Google can search through every
single web page on the internet
D. If Google doesn’t find it, it doesn’t
exist CommandButton1
9. Which statement is NOT true
about Wikipedia?
A. It should never be used as a source
for academic papers
B. It can be a good starting place, as it
often provides a list of reliable
references
C. Anybody can contribute to it
D. All the information added to
Wikipedia is verified before it is
published
CommandButton1
10. Which statement is NOT true
about Wikipedia?
A. It should never be used as a source
for academic papers
B. It can be a good starting place, as it
often provides a list of reliable
references
C. Anybody can contribute to it
D. All the information added to
Wikipedia is verified before it is
published
CommandButton1
Notes de l'éditeur
Samuel Johnson: English author (Encyclopedia Britannica)
“Single most quoted English writer after Shakespeare”
We have talked about the First step in Information Literacy – Defining the need
Step 2 is Finding the Information
If you want to find out more information where is the first place you look?
Generally it is the internet these days
A lot of people just go to the internet to do their research
The Internet is one place to go but as we will see later, some of the sources found there may not be reliable: Chuck Norris “Facts”
Handout Myths about the internet: PAGE 19
One of my favorite search engines is Google
Handout Google Search Sheet: PAGE 20
Show Video: Searching the Web In Plain English
Demonstrate
Phrase searching (quotes)
A fool and his gold are soon parted
“A fool and his gold are soon parted”
NOTsearching (say you are interested in the bass guitar) (minus sign)
Bass (hmm first hits are about fishing so
Bass –fish –fishes –fishing (and so on)
Explain how pages get to the top of Google (top ranked pages have the most pages that link to them): Wikipedia links to itself
Search engines – what other ones are there?
Ask.com or Dogpile.com (meta search engine)
Directories
Librarian’s internet index - http://lii.org/
Segue into Wikipedia - Show Steven Colbert on Wikipedia
Wikipedia (Wiki – something on the web anyone can contribute to, pedia is an abbreviation of encyclopedia)
Good place to start
Changes constantly
Never used as a source for academic papers: but can be a “source” for sources
This time we are actually going to edit a Wikipedia article.
First thing you have to do is create an account on Wikipedia. On the top right hand corner of the main page it says create account. Create a user name, a password and enter the words in the image on the page and you’ll have an account. You don’t even need to enter an e-mail address! You can either do this before class or during class to demonstrate the ease of creating an account
Here is one approach if you are comfortable with off the cuff. Ask the students for a subject. Go to that page in Wikipedia and edit it with something foolish. You may want to experiment a bit before so you know what the symbols mean. The 5th symbol is the Headline. Save the page and show the students. (Do go back and remove your edit.)
Or just do this: put something like “Your mama has a myocardial infarction” on the top of the HEART ATTACK page. You may want to experiment a bit before so you know what the symbols mean. The 5th symbol is the Headline. Save the page and show the students. (Do go back and remove your edit during or after class.)
How do we find and access information? - particularly online
One way is via an OPAC – most libraries have OPACs now
Online Public Access Catalog
OPACs catalog the holdings of a specific library or library system.
OPACs do not catalog what is in the material – for instance an OPAC may say a library has a particular periodical but it will not say what is in it (and no newspapers or phone books)
OPACs allow for searching using several criteria – author, title, subject, keywords, etc
