Study Guide: Internet Skills

Internet Research and Site evaluation

The Internet is a collection of connected networks, including federal, regional, educational, local and international networks. In theory, the Internet is one long wire with millions of computers attached to it. While it is fun to visualize the Internet in this way, in reality it is made up of computers and networks connected with copper cables, fiber optic cables, microwave relay sites and satellite links. It is estimated that over 200 million people use the Internet -- a number that grows by millions every year! It is projected that at least 80 percent of the world’s computers will be connected to the Internet in just a few years.

The Internet is in fact global in nature. No one group or organization owns or controls the Internet. Each individual and group connecting to the Internet is responsible for maintaining its own network. The Internet has grown to the point that in some cases governments are trying to regulate it through law and profit from it through taxes.

The number of sites and pages on the World Wide Web (WWW) is staggering, with millions of sites and an estimated billion pages. This size is the factor that makes it both fascinating and frustrating. It is fascinating because there is so much available on the Internet and frustrating because there is too much available.

You will use the Internet by connecting to it through your browser software that interprets the HTML, displays various web pages, and enables you to link to other web pages and web sites. Without a doubt, the two most common browsers are Netscape’s Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

If you try to find a specific fact or a set of data manually in the sea of data contained in the World Wide Web, you have a daunting task with only small chance of success. The search engine is the tool that finds data on the Web. There are generally two types of search engines, the standard search engine and the meta search engine. The standard search engine builds its database by searching Web pages and Internet files based on keywords or phrases. Search engines stay current by constantly reviewing web sites and rebuilding their indexes to provide more and better matches to inquiries made on the web.

The meta search engine is similar to the standard search engine except that instead of searching web sites, it searches search engines. With a meta-search engine, when you submit your search, it transmits your request simultaneously to several individual search engines and their databases of web pages.

Due to the amount of information available on the web, you can improve your chances of finding the best results by limiting the scope or your search. Proper use of search operators will improve the efficiency of your search. To look for a specific string or phrase, you can enclose the search string in quotation marks. Use the include or exclude operators ( + or - ) to require or prohibit certain information in the results. Compound search criteria can be created with the use of the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT.

Once you have located the information you need, you must determine the validity and accuracy of the search results. Anyone can basically place anything on the web. There is no organization that oversees the WWW and insures that the information is factual. It is the user’s responsibility to determine what is true and what is not.

What do you know about the source of Internet data and what should you know about the source? Areas to focus on are the author or publisher of the data, verifiability and currency of the data. Questions to be answered include:

• What is the author’s background?
• Who is the publisher of the web site?
• Is there a built-in or known bias with the author or publisher?
• Can the information be verified through other sources?
• Has the site been updated recently and is the information current?

As you successfully search the World Wide Web, you will find a favorite search engine that you depend on. It is important to remember that your favorite search engine is just one tool and to be successful you will need many tools. Do not be afraid to leave your favorite search engine for one that may be specific to a certain topic. Sometimes it is best to not use a search engine at all. You will often locate data more quickly by going directly to the web site of the organization, product, or location on which you are seeking information.

Review the questions listed below. They seem to be very straightforward and should be easy to answer using the Internet. Test your web searching skills and techniques by finding answers to the following:

• Who was the 12^th President of the US?
• Who is the CEO of Hewlett Packard?
• What is the population of Seattle, Washington?
• Who won the 1948 World Series?
• How many U.S. Senate seats does Nebraska have?
• Who were the democratic presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 1952 election?
• When did Alabama become a state?
• What does an official NBA basketball weigh?
• How many books did Charles Dickens publish?
• How old was Richard Wagner when he died?
• How many symphonies did Beethoven write?
• What is the Atomium?

Did you find the answers to each one? Were they as easy to answer as you thought they would be?

The following web sites provide information about search engines and web site evaluation techniques:

http://www.zdnet.com/searchiq

http://www.searchenginewatch.com

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

http://www.germantownacademy.org/Academics/US/Library/Internet/Evaluation/teacher.htm

http://writing.msu.edu/modules/oldresearch/criteria.html