Finding & evaluating
information on the
World Wide Web
Academic Learning Support Services
Dr Eric Wong
February 2005
1
Finding & evaluating
information in the WWW
• Meeting peers (5’)
• Introducing basic searching tips
(5’+5’+10’)
• Understanding web search tools
(15’+10’)
• Evaluating web resources
(5’+15’+10’)
• Locating web resources useful to
your studies (10’)
• Citing web resources (10’)
• Q & A (10’)
2
Introducing basic searching tips
• Use appropriate sources
• Create search strategies
• Refer to help pages to understand their
search capabilities & the right syntax to
change the scope of your search
• Use specific terms rather than general
terms
• Scan results and evaluate each entry
before activating the links
• Use different types of search tools
• Make use of the options provided by some
search engines (e.g., Google, ProFusion) to
find more relevant documents
3
Introducing basic searching tips
Use appropriate sources
• Look for library-subscribed webbased resources for academic
purposes
• Look for free resources on the
web when you can’t find
information you want in librarysubscribed web-based resources
and for non-academic purposes
4
Introducing basic searching tips
Library-subscribed web-based
resources
• Listed under Electronic Resources
on the Library website
• Reviewed & selected by librarians
for academic pursuit
• Subscribed by the Library thus
restricted access to authorized
users
5
Introducing basic searching tips
Free resources
• Not listed under Electronic
Resources on the Library website
• Free information of vase amount
• Unfiltered information thus no
quality control
• May contain very updated/outdated
information
6
Introducing basic searching tips
Create search strategies
• General strategies
• Boolean logic & proximity
operation
• Field searching
7
Introducing basic searching tips
Create search strategies
• 3 students in a group, each studies one of the following
items (5’)
o General strategies
o Boolean logic & proximity operation
o Field searching
• share your learning with the other two members (10’)
Source
Creating a search strategy:
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson6.shtml
Boolean Searching on the Internet
http://library.albany.edu/internet/boolean.html
SEARCHING WITH BOOLEAN LOGIC AND PROXIMITY OPERATORS
http://www.eccc.edu/library/lesson8.html
Field Searching
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson9.shtml
8
Understanding web search tools
• Subject directory
• Search engine
• Deep web
9
Understanding web search tools
• Examine the following web search tools
(15’)
o Subject directory (Group1)
o Search engine (Group 2)
o Deep web (Group 3)
http://library.albany.edu/internet/checklist.html
http://library.albany.edu/internet/deepweb.html
• Share with your peers (2’- 3’)
o What is it?
o Any example to illustrate?
o When to use it?
10
Evaluating web resources
Reasons for evaluating
• Anyone can put up a Web page
– about anything
– for pennies
– in minutes
• Many pages not kept up-to-date
• No quality control
– most sites not “peer-reviewed”
• less trustworthy than scholarly
publications
– no selection guidelines for search engines
Source
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides
/Internet/Evaluate.html
11
Evaluating web resources
Basic criteria for evaluation
• Accuracy
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Currency
• Coverage
• Stability
• User friendliness
Source
http://www.kepler.edu/secure/students/Writing_web.htm
Another Source
http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating
/index.html
12
Evaluating web resources
• Work through the following page to
understand more about the
evaluating criteria (10’)
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
• Find a website of your choice and
evaluate it using these criteria (5’)
• Report to the whole group the
results of your discussion (2’- 3’)
13
Locating web resources
useful to your studies
Source
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/subject
/index.htm
14
Citing web resources
Citation Styles:
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/
online/citex.html
15
More references
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pa
ges/bones/bones.shtml
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Teaching
Lib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
16
Q&A
17