|
Introduction
| Task | Resources |
Process | Evaluation
| Conclusion | Worksheet
Introduction
There
is always something extra you need to know. Sometimes, you'll
want the answer to a specific question. At others, you'll need
to find information that is much more recent than anything you could
get in print. At still other times, you'll need to follow a news
story as it is evolving.
The Internet
provides lots of tools and lots of information to help with all of this.
It also tempts us with dead-ends, misinformation and outright hoaxes.
The Task
You'll
be using the Internet to find the answers to an assortment of questions.
Any search tools or site is valid, BUT you'll need to be able to defend
your methodology and the accuracy of each of your answers.
Resources
- Search
tools There are many different kinds
of search tools available. The ones listed below give a cross-section
of types. To find out more about when to use each, What
kind of search services should you use? from Pandia
Goalgetter Internet Searching Tutorial will get you started.
| Yahoo
or Yahooligans |
An index
of web sites organized by human "librarians". Yahoo is for
adults (grown-up topics, not X-rated) and Yahooligans is for
kids. The categories are arranged to appeal to each of those
audiences. |
| Google |
A
search engine that uses a "popularity" factor to
rank order hits |
| AltaVista |
One
of the largest and fastest search engines |
Ask
Jeeves or
AskJeeves for Kids |
A natural
language search engine, along with a directory. AskJeeves
for Kids returns hits only from its screened database of "G-rated"
sites and from other search sites for kids.. |
| About.com |
Features
over 600 guides offering original content in various areas
with extensive links to other sites. |
| Internet
Public Library |
A
directory organized by the librarians at University of Michigan |
| KidsClick! |
This
site for kids offers a directory of sites for K-12 student
work. It is designed by librarians and key words are likely
to be more useful for student work. |
- Evaluating
web pages and information.
These pages will provide background information on how to decide if
information is accurate and reliable. The page can also be used to
help guide students.
- Format
for Citing Authorities.
General
Format |
Author's
Last Name, Initial(s). (Date of document [if different from date
accessed)]. Title of
document. Title of complete work [if applicable].
Version or File number
[if applicable]. (Edition or revision
[if applicable]).Protocol
and address, access path, or directories
(date of access). |
|
Sample
|
Sine,
P.H. (1998). What's technology got to do with it?
http://www.udel.edu/sine/got2do/
(22 July 1999). |
The Process
- In
order to complete this task, you'll need to understand how to evaluate
the information that you find on the Web. The table below show
five criteria that research authorities use to separate good information
from bad. Much of this is no different from what you'd do with print
resources, but it's not second nature to us yet on the Internet.
Remember not to believe something just because it looks good on the
Web.
| Accuracy |
Is
the information accurate? Are facts well-checked? |
| Authority |
Is
the author of the web page clearly stated and does he or
she have a credible background to write on the topic? |
| Objectivity |
Does
the author represent a particular point of view? |
| Currency |
When
was the web page last updated? |
| Coverage |
Does
the site cover all aspects of the given topic? |
- Now
on to the questions. For each of the questions, use the tools
provided or others that you know about to find the best answer. Look
closely at the evaluation rubric to make sure you are covering all
the bases.
For each question,
record this information.
- Answer
- Search tool
used and why and your strategy
- How did you
decide that this information was accurate?
- A citation
for your source
Questions
Evaluation
Use this
rubric to evaluate your use of the Internet to find the answers to questions.
Give yourself a score for each question for each item on the rubric
and then average those to get a final score.
|
Beginning
1 pts. |
Accomplished
2 pts. |
Exemplary
3 pts. |
Score |
Answering
the Question
|
Found
the correct answer for only a few of the questions.
|
Found
the correct answer for the questions.
|
Found
the correct answer for the questions and verified the answer
by finding a second source.
|
|
Explaining
the
Search Tool Used
|
Tools
seemed to be chosen randomly without a clear understanding of
the relative purposes.
|
Explanation
of each tool choice showed a limited understanding about why
the tool was appropriate for the task.
|
Explanation
of each tool choice clearly showed why the tool was appropriate
for the task.
|
|
Evaluating
the
Usefulness of Information
|
Responses
were vague about why a particular source was likely to be accurate
on a given question.
|
Responses
ignored one or more key factors in deciding on the accuracy
of information.
|
Responses
clearly indicated why the given source was most likely to provide
accurate information.
|
|
Using
the Correct
Form for a Citation
|
Citations
were generally missing.
|
Citations
were incomplete or inaccurate.
|
Citations
were complete and accurate. The sources of information
could readly be found by someone else.
|
|
| |
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
Conclusion
As you've
seen the Web has plenty of useful information but also lots of ways
to get misled. Hopefully, this exercise has helped you learn about
some new tools for searching the web and has given you some ways to
judge what information is truly useful. Keep this set of tools
handy as you use the Web for all future information gathering.
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