Instructions

Note: The screen to the right is not a working version of HOTBOT® Click Here to bring a separate window with HOTBOT®    running in it. Below are instructions for trying HOTBOT® . Scroll down to read through them.  We suggest you take notes on these instructions before activating the new window with HOTBOT® . When you have finished trying a search on HOTBOT® , click on the "x" in the upper righthand corner of that window to return to our skill module.

We're going to use the advanced features of Hotbot to help us find useful sources for a research paper on recycling.  Many search engines now have advanced search features. 

Scroll down the Hotbot window at the right until you find a small green bar labelled "Advanced Search."  Click on it. (It's to the left of the Hotbot window, under a selection box that says "full descriptions.")
There are all kinds of options here, but don't get confused.  They are all useful, but right now we're concerned with domain names.  Scroll down the Hotbot window until you see the section called "Domain/Location."  Click on the selection box that currently says "Anywhere."
Click on the arrow in the selection box.  You will see that you can choose .com, .org, .net or whatever domain you wish. 

DON'T choose to search .com sites, for they will all be companies offering recycling services. At this point, you want information about recycling issues. Choose "North America (.org)."
Go back up to the top of the Hotbot page and type recycling in the search bar.
Remember: to make this work, you have to choose North American (.org) in the box that said "anywhere" in the Domain/Location section of the Advanced Search page. 

Now hit search.
Not every search will come out the same way, but when this unit was developed, the first 10 hits were sites that suggested several interesting possibilities for a narrower research topic. These included: 
 
  • recycling as a business (commerical recycling) -- is this profitable? How many companies are doing this? What industries are participating?
  • recycling as part of education -- how are the "younger generation" getting involved in recycling programs (schools, organizations like the Boy Scouts, contests) and are they having an impact?
  • state- or government- sponsored recycling programs -- what are they and are they working? How much are they costing taxpayers, and does the cost/benefit ratio make sense?
  • recycling technological components -- you may not even have been aware that computer components, for example, can be recycled for profit.  What are some of the issues involved in this kind of recycling and how well is it working?

    • That's pretty good progress for a fairly general search.
    Try the search again with the domain .edu.  The first 10 hits for this search suggest at least one more possible topic: 
    campus recycling programs -- do they work? Where are they working? What impact are they having?
    Try the search again, with the domain .edu and the more specific search of +campus +recycling +program.  Immediately you have access to the details of campus recycling programs at many campuses in the U.S. 
    The next step would be to brainstorm some other specific search terms and use other domain names to see if any other topics or any more information about this specific topic come up.
     
     
    Caution: You will note as you begin to use the Web to narrow your search that you cannot do all of your research on the Web.  It is too difficult to locate the exact information you need.  A better approach is to use the Web to identify one or two focused areas within the topic of recycling that seem interesting to you, then go to Delcat and the library's databases to find academic sources relevant to your topic.
    Go to Assignment for Unit VI