How to Search the Web

                                                                             

This research guide is available on

Adirondack Community College Library’s Web page: http://library.sunyacc.edu > Research Guides & Tutorials

 

 

           The “Internet” is the 30-year-old worldwide network of computers using various functions: the Web, gopher, ftp, telnet, others. The “World Wide Web,” created in the early 1990s, is now the largest part of the Internet. The Web uses hypertext links: highlighted words or graphics that, when clicked on, connect to other documents. The Web also offers multimedia information: sound, animation, video and other graphics.  

    

          Computers with Web access are located near the Reference Desk in the ACC Library as well as around campus. Your use of these computers indicates your consent with the college’s Computer Use Policy, available on our Web page, agreeing to use the computers responsibly for academic purposes.  

    

          This guide and the interactive, narrated Search the Web Tutorial are on the Library’s Web page, under “Research Guides and Tutorials.”                                                          

 

What’s on the Web:

 

• The Web offers access to:

- valuable information (research, statistics, opinions, information on health, travel, finances, consumer issues, etc. from schools, corporations, government agencies, non-profit and military agencies);

- commercial, inaccurate, offensive, of low quality or value, or illegal material (advertising, rantings, opinions shown as facts, child pornography, stolen music, personal pages with hobbies, etc.).

 

• The Web grows exponentially: more than 11.5 billion Web pages are estimated to exist.

 

• Web site creators do not have any overall, world-wide standards for accuracy or quality.

                       Checking for accuracy and quality becomes your job! Use the criteria below.

 

• It’s best to use free Web information in addition to more reliably credible sources such as books and journal articles, which are usually fact-checked and reviewed by experts before publication.

 

• Remember: all information is not on the Web, just as it’s not only in books, on TV, radio or in

                       any other one medium.

  

 

Evaluating Web information:

            Ask these questions to help you evaluate Web sites and other information:

 

  

           Author:                      • Is an author listed? Who is the author or producer?

                                               • Are credentials or contact information given?

                                               • If published by an organization, is any background given?

                                               • Is it the group’s official site?

  

           Date and Currency:  • When was the information produced? When was it last updated?

                                               • Are the links up-to-date, or do they lead to “dead ends”?

  

           Bias:                          • Does the site offer facts or opinions?

                                               • Are political, cultural or other biases evident? Does it present all viewpoints?

                                               • Is the author trying to sell a product or have other vested interests?

  

           Content:                    • What is the site’s purpose? Who is the intended audience?

                                               • Is the information accurate? Does it correspond to your other research?

                                               • Is it clearly organized and designed well?

 

  

           To check if certain Web sites are hoaxes, spam, viruses, etc., go to Purportal.com. Enter in the name of the Web site or the Web address in the appropriate search boxes.

            See the ACC Library guide “Evaluating Web Information” for more pointers.

 

                     Adapted 6/97 from several sources, including: Grassian, Ester. Thinking critically about world wide web resources. File:

                                                 www.ucla.edu/campus/computing/bruinonline/trainers/critical.html Retrieved 2/15/96.

 

 

Free vs. subscription Web sites:

          This guide discusses free Web sites. They often have no printed equivalent and can appear and disappear on a whim. 

          The ACC Library also subscribes to article and reference databases, listing well-checked, more stable information. ACC students may search these from home.

 

Four Ways to Search the Web:

              

  

  1) Recommended Web address:   

 

• These are Web addresses we know are useful through experience. Some are listed below.

 

• The last part of a Web address indicates the type of group creating the page: .com (commercial, for-profit company; about 50% of addresses), .gov (government), .edu (college or university), .org (non-profit organization), .net (network) and .mil (military). Two-letter country (.us) or state (.ny) addresses are also used. New Web address endings include .biz, .museum and .pro.

 

 

 

2) Subject directory:

 

• Use a subject directory when you need a few, high-quality sites about a topic.

    

• They list high-quality Web sites, organized by subject.

    

• Sites are chosen by people (not software).

    

• They are very small, listing 1% or less of all Web sites.

    

• Yahoo!, About and Google’s Web Directory are commercial subject directories. While well-organized, they tend to have lots of ads and offer entertainment, hobby and consumer Web links. Most do not check Web sites for quality or accuracy.

    

• Hundreds of subject directories exist.

    

• Subject directories from libraries and other educational groups are usually more appropriate for college-level research.

 

                                                                                

 

3) Search engines:

 

• Use a search engine if you:

                                   - have a very specific search,

                                   - want large numbers of results, and

                                   - know enough about the subject to judge if the resulting Web sites are valid.

    

• Search engines use software to search billions of Web sites by subject. They are usually not selective or quality-oriented.

    

           • No search engine covers all of the Web. Most cover 8 to 50%.

    

• More than a thousand search engines exist. Each offers different search features: see Search Engine Watch (http://www.searchenginewatch.com) for charts comparing features, plus lists of specialized search engines (ones that search only for pictures, MP3, etc.)

    

• Google uses “link popularity” plus other criteria. Some to try:

 

 

                                                                                         

 

4) Meta-search engines:

 

• To find “needle in a haystack” information, search several search engines at once with a meta-search engine: software culling the top 10, 20 or 30 results from several search engines.

             

• It’s best to try a few advanced searches with specific search engines first. If all else fails, try: