Web Literacy
Web Searching Strategies

Basics
IP Addresses is equal to a domain name.
Our school IP number 207.165.148.1 is the same as the domain name ikm-manning.k12.ia.us

URL-uniform resource locator (website address)

Homepage- start page

Links- quickly go to other pages
can represent folders, servers, countries, etc
Each / represents a folder level
http://www.ikm-manning.k12.ia.us/ManningElem/Keyboarding/keyboarding.html
http://www.ikm-manning.k12.ia.us=domain name
ManningElem=Folder
Keyboarding=Folder
keyboarding.html=Name of file

Truncate a URL
By clicking at the end of an address and deleting characters up to the slash, you may be help to help validate a site.
Do you think this site is authentic? http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

TIPS:
A tilde symbol ~ will always represent a personal web page
Addresses have no spaces, read left to right, no page #, and always a forward slash /
If you hold your mouse over a link, you should see the link address in the status bar at bottom of browser. If you don't see, go to View—Show Status Bar

SEARCH ENGINES
~collect information using robots or spiders
~roam the web and collect info, text, titles, meta-tages
~not all work the same, some focus on pages, some crawl more often, or evaluate differently

For younger students try:
TekMom http://www.tekmom.com/search/index.html
or
Ivy's Search Engine Resource http://www.ivyjoy.com/rayne/kidssearch.html

Meta-Searching -searches several major search engines. Examples are dogpile.com and webcrawler.com

Get a complete list of what search engines are out there http://www.internet4classrooms.com/search.htm

http://www.zuula.com
Zuula - sends query to multiple search engines and then displayes the results of each in separate tabs

Web Searching Strategies

Boolean Web Searching Strategies
"Boolean searching is named after George Boole, a British mathematician (1815-1864), who wrote about logical ways to formulate precise queries using true-false connectors or "operators" between concepts. The true-false nature of Boolean logic, as this system is commonly called, makes it compatible with binary logic used in digital computers. It has become the conventional basis for searching most computerized systems." Quoted from Joe Barker (jbarker@library.berkeley.edu) from “Best Stuff on the Web” – Copyright 2002 The Teaching Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA.

http://www.boolify.org/index.php
The Boolify Project is a simple jigsaw game that teaches students the effects of "and," "or," and "not" on Internet search results. The game is simple enough for elementary school students to benefit from, at the same time the game provides valuable lessons for high school students.

http://kathyschrock.net/rbs3k/boolean/#
The Boolean Machine is a tool for visualizing the effects of Boolean operators on keyword searches. It was created to teach the importance of Boolean operators in effective search strategies.

Google Basic Searching -http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479
Google Advanced Searching - http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861
Google Search Features- http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html

Using Search Engines- http://www.learnwebskills.com/search/engines.html Good tutorials for trying to learn and/or teach web searching.

Validating Websites

easyWhois -Tells you who owns a website
WayBack Machine Drafts of past websites

Get REAL (Alan November, "Web Literacy for Educators")
1. Read the URL
•Do you recognize the domain name?
•What is the extension in the domain name?
•Are you on a personal page? (name, ~, %)

2. Examine the content
•Is the information on the website useful for your topic?
•Are additional resources and links provided? Do the links work?
•Is the site current? Do you know when it was last updated?
•Do you think the information is accurate?
•Does the information contradict information you have found elsewhere?

3. Ask about the author and owner
•Is the author's name on the site?
•Is there a contact person or e-mail address?
•Is there any information about the author?
•Does the author know the topic well? Is her or she an expert?

4. Look at the links
Forward Links-name given to a link from your website to a page on someone else's website
•What are the URLs of the forward links?
•Do the domain names change?
•Is the information biased?

Back Links-name given to a link from someone else's website to a page on your website
(in AltaVista link:web address) link:http://www.ikm-manning.k12.ia.us
•Who is linked to the web site?
•Why they are linked?
•What do other sites say about the information on the site?

Sites for students to validate

California Velcro Crop Under Challenge http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html
Dihydrogen Monoxide http://www.dhmo.org
Dog Island Free Forever http://www.thedogisland.com
Feline Reactions to Bearded Men http://improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
Martin Luther King http://www.martinlutherking.org
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus

Get Real Content Frame
Web Literacy Note Frame

Luann Langel —Technology Coordinator, IKM & Manning Schools
Last Updated February 13, 2009