research on the web

Researching on the WebTechniques and Strategies

G-EN111 COLLEGE RHETORIC II

Bruce Clary, McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas

• Yahoo.com

• Bing.com (Microsoft)

• Ask.com

Many search engines are available…

AR340 WEB-BASED DESIGNG-EN111 COLLEGE RHETORIC II

• DogPile.com (meta search)

• Yippy.com (cluster view)

http://www.yahoo.com

http://www.yahoo.com

http://www.bing.com

http://www.bing.com

http://www.ask.com

http://www.ask.com

http://www.dogpile.com

http://www.dogpile.com

http://www.yippy.com

http://www.yippy.com

…but Google is the king of all search engines.


How Google works


• Googlebot

How Google works


• Googlebot

• Indexer

How Google works


• Googlebot

• Indexer

• Query processor

How Google works


• Googlebot

• Indexer

• Query processor

• Page rank

How Google works


What matters in your query?


See Basic Web Search at Google.com

http://http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479&topic=1221265


• Every word matters







• Word order matters








• Capitalization does not matter








• Capitalization does not matter

• Punctuation does not matter






Google’s principal operators


• The default is AND




• Use OR for either term (instead of both)





• Use double quotation marks (“”) for exact phrases and words, e.g., “video games”





• Use double quotation marks (“”) for exact phrases and words, e.g., “video games”

• To exclude terms, use minus (-) instead of NOT, e.g., [webbooks -laptops]



Additional operators in Google


• Use the wildcard (*) to fill in blanks, e.g., [pujols batted * in 2004]. The * operator works only on whole words, not part of words.




• site: restricts hits to pages in the given domain, e.g., [operators site:google.com]





• link: lists webpages that link to the specified webpage, e.g., [link:www.mcpherson.edu]





• link: lists webpages that link to the specified webpage, e.g., [link:www.mcpherson.edu]

• define: provides definitions




https://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=laptops+classroom+%2522higher+education%2522&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&hs=HMT&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1316&bih=689&tbs=rl:1,rls:2&prmd=imvns

https://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=laptops+classroom+%2522higher+education%2522&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&hs=HMT&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1316&bih=689&tbs=rl:1,rls:2&prmd=imvns

Formulating your query


• Keep it simple



• Keep it simple

• Use the words that are most likely to appear on the page



• Keep it simple

• Use the words that are most likely to appear on the page

• Be specific. The more unique the word is the more likely you are to get relevant results



• Want data about video game addiction? [“video games” addiction database OR statistics OR index ]

• Want more academic treatments of your subject?[“video games” addiction bibliography OR “works cited”]

OR…

Think about using context terms


Use Google Scholar


http://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en

http://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en

• Corpora allow you to restrict your returns to a certain type, e.g., Images, Videos, News, etc.

• Filters allow to restrict your returns by location, time, and other factors.

Google’s corpora and filters


The most critical step for research on the Web is…

Evaluating Source Credibility


• Is there an “About” page?

• Is it clear who the authors are of the Web page, or who is responsible for it?

• What gives them their authority or expertise to write?

Authority


• Is there good reason to believe that the information on the site is accurate?

• Are the facts documented?

• Is the site free of careless errors, misspelled words, and poor grammar?

Accuracy


• What is the author’s point of view?

• What is the purpose of the site?

Objectivity


• When was the information on the page originally written?

• Has the site been kept up-to-date?

Currency


• Who links to this site? Tip: Use Google’s link: operator.

• Does the site offer anything informative, unique, or insightful?

Value


• Use the tips above—e.g., using Google’s link: operator to evaluate Authoritativeness—with the rubric posted in our Resources folder

OR … Use the SEER Rubric


research on the web

Education