Mmmmmm!

Savvy

Shoppers

How to Be a Better

Information Consumer

How does Google search?

1. First, Google searches your keywords as a phrase.

2. Next, it looks for individual words, in order. It notes how far apart keywords are from each other.

3. Counts how often your terms appear and where.

4. Ranks pages according to how many OTHER pages have links to it.

Results are retrieved and arranged according to relevance as well as “popularity.”

Top results may not be best.

Source: http://www.google.com/competition/howgooglesearchworks.html

Surfers beware!

Some sites

• repeat each other. anatomically improbable molded plastic statuette named Barbie Google

• exist merely to show ads. Toyhistory.com

• have incorrect or fake information.– http://www.thedogisland.com/

• are written by non-experts.

The Internet offers lots of better

choices.

What makes an “expert”?

- Credentials

- Knowledge

- How can you tell?

“About Us”

Example: Search “Ancient China” Google

Evaluate with Journalist

Questions• Who

• What

• Where

• When

• Why

• How

Evaluate Website

• Who sponsors the Website? (About Us)

• What is on the page?

• Where is it on the Web (.edu, .org, .gov, .com)

• When was information created and site last updated?

• Why do they sponsor it? (recruit, solicit donations, sell, persuade, inform, entertain)

• How does the info compare to print materials like books?

Activity

• With a partner, search Tornadoes.

• Choose and evaluate one Website.

• Locate three things that show it is or is not a credible Website. Write those things down.

– (Example: sponsored by National Weather Service)

Remember: Who, What, Where, When, Why

(We’re skipping “How.”)

Savvy

Searching• Use Keywords

– When was Justin Bieber born?

– Justin Bieber’s birthday

• Use Quotation Marks.

– “bank holidays” Great Britain

• Use AND NOT.

– Canadian singers AND NOT Justin Bieber

• Limit Searches by Domain.

– site:.gov site:.org site:.edu Tutankhamun site:.org– Search “Michigan state bird site:.gov” Google

• Use Google Advanced Search

Activity1. With a partner, devise two to four keywords for a

search on a science or social studies topic you’ve recently studied. Run your search in Google and quickly scan your results list.

2. Open a new window in your browser and go to Google Advanced Search (click on the gear icon).

3. To refine your search, use Advanced Search boxes such as – All these words– This exact word or phrase – Numbers ranging from (date range)

4. Scan the results list. Are your two results lists different? Is either one better?

Internet Directories

• Sites are selected for quality and reliability.

– ALA Great Websites for Kids

http://gws.ala.org/

– IPL Internet Public Libraryhttp://www.ipl.org/ (Use Firefox)

– Multnomah County Library (Portland, OR) http://www.multcolib.org/ref/topics.html

Sacramento Public Library

www.saclibrary.org

• Click RESEARCH and then STUDENTS (K-12)

• Recommended databases:

– Access Science

– Biography Reference Center

– CultureGrams

– Student Research Center

Access from home with library card # and PIN.

Tips for Savvy Shoppers

• Don’t settle for the first or second hit. Consider the first fifteen.

• Avoid sites that say exactly the same thing.

• Evaluate Web sites.

• Utilize Web directories.

• Use print resources (books, magazines, encyclopedias). Compare facts you find in print with what you find online.

Additional Resources for Teachers

Use information on the following slides for further exploration and discussion.

A Word about Wikis

• Wikis are intended to be collaborative, which means many people can contribute to their content.

• Wikipedia is, particularly, not guaranteed to contain reliable information.

• Don’t use Wikipedia for school research.• You can use their bibliographies to try to find

books or other information about a topic.• You can use the articles to figure out what terms

to search on for that topic.

Search Practice

With your partner,

• Search on “Shang Dynasty.”

• Find one Web site and give three reasons why you selected it.

• Remember to look at the first 15.

Real or Fake?

• Let’s test our method.

• http://descy.50megs.com/mankato/mankato.html

• Is it real or fake?

Photo courtesy of hersethstomahawkresort.com

Fake Sites Activity

• With a partner, choose one of the following to visit. (LOCATE BY SEARCHING SITE TITLE.)

• Find three pieces of information on the Website that makes you question its reliability.

• British Stick Insect Foundation – Karoo

• Mechanical Marvels of the Nineteenth Century

• Titles from the Facts About Series

• History of the Fisher-Price Airplane

Fake Sites Activity, continued

• Now, search for a better site or a site about a similar, but real, topic.

• Find three reasons why your new site is better.

Recommended Sites

InfoPlease.comHistoryforkids.org National Geographic KidsPBS.orgGovernment Sites:

CIA www.cia.govFDA www.fda.govWhitehouse.gov www.whitehouse.govEndangered species www.fws.gov/endangeredNational Weather Service www.weather.govCenters for Disease Control www.cdc.gov