Effective Internet Searches
Teacher Resources
By
Edith Lawson
Content
• Effective search of the Internet and
evaluating web content can be time
consuming.
• Knowing how to search can make it easier
• Know what your looking for – be specific
• Know how to use the search engines.
Search Engines
Google
Bing
Ask
Dogpile
Metacrawler
Not all search engines
are alike
Keywords
• Effective searches start with good
keywords
• 6 to 8 good nouns or words that you are
exactly looking for
• Verbs are clutter – searches don’t look for
them
• Questions are not preferable
Searching keywords
• Do not need commas, just spaces
between the words
• “Exact phrases need quotes”
• lowercase is best unless it requires
UPPERCASE
• Punctuation usually confuses search
engines
Boolean Terms
• Basic words are AND, OR, AND NOT
• AND means that both words have to be in
the document
• OR means that one of the words will be in
the document
• AND NOT allows you to exclude a word
from the document
Acronym Nemonics
• A way to remember effective searching
would be:
• Bo’Leon starfish lowered Lincoln’s tie
•
Dodge, Seven steps, 2001)
Acronym Nemonics
• Bo’Leon- make sure to use the boolean
words such as AND OR NOT
• starfish - using the * at the end of the
keyword* would allow for all variations of
the word
• lowered - use lowercase
• Lincoln’s – search any links on the page
• Tie – use keywords from the title
Simple mistakes
• misspelled words
• slang words
• Patience – most people want it to come up
on the first try – usually doesn’t
• Search engines get paid to put certain
sites first – not always the correct site you
want
• Searching is a learned skill – not easy
•
(Gill, Effective Internet, 2006)
Reliability of Information
• Who is the author?
– Who wrote the article?, Is it a credible source?,
Who is sponsoring the page? Is it a logical
connection between the author and the article?
• Sponsor
– is it academic or scholarly? Is it to advertise
product? Does the site end in .gov or .edu?
• Multiple sources
– Does it have another source that validates the
information on the site?
– Do the links lead to credible sites?
Reliability of Information
• Information
– Does the information have data to back up the
findings?
– Is the article recent or outdated?
– Is it biased to the author or the company it is
representing
(Grabe, Integrating technolgy, 2007)
References
•
Dodge, Bernie. Seven steps towards better searching.
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/WebQuest/searching/sevensteps2001.html. March 8, 2001. retrieved April 2011.
•
Gill, Judith. Effective Internet Search: Research . Baylin Systems Inc, 2006. retrieved from
http://www.searchhelpcenter.com/effective-internet-search-problems.html April 2011.
•
Grabe, C & Grabe, M. (2007). Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. (5th ed). Boston, MA. Houghton
Mifflin Company.
•
Media Awareness Network. How to Search the Internet Effectively. 2010. Retrieved from http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/resources/special_initiatives/wa_resources/wa_teachers/tipsheets/search_internet_effective
ly.cfm April 2011.