Some Tips on Searching The Internet
&
Evaluating Sites
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
What is a Directory?
What is a Search Engine?
How Do I Know Which to Use? Which is Better?
If you use Ask Jeeves, remember to Remove Frames
If you use About, remember to Turn Off Top Frame
Interpreting Results of a Search
Extensions:
| .ac = academic | oxford.ac |
| .com = commercial | Amazon.com |
| .edu = higher educational (i.e. college) | yale.edu |
| .org = non-profit organization | adl.org |
| .net = network | Netscape.net |
| .gov = government | Senate.gov |
| .mil = military | usmc.mil |
Country Codes:
| Code | Location | Code | Location | Code | Location |
| .at | Austria |
.hu | Hungary |
.pt | Portugal |
| .au | Australia |
.ie | Ireland |
.ro | Romania |
| .be | Belgium |
.il | Israel |
.ru | Russia |
| .bg | Bulgaria |
.is | Iceland |
.se | Sweden |
| .br | Brazil |
.it | Italy |
.si | Slovenia |
| .ca | Canada |
.jp | Japan |
.sk | Slovakia |
| .ch | Switzerland |
.kr | Korea |
.th | Thailand |
| .cz | Czech
Republic |
.lu | Luxembourg |
.tr | Turkey |
| .de |
Germany |
.mx | Mexico |
.tw | Taiwan |
| .dk |
Denmark |
.my |
Malaysia |
.ua | Ukraine |
| .es | Spain |
.ng | Nigeria |
.uk | United
Kingdom |
| .fi | Finland | .nl | Netherlands |
.us | USA |
| .fr | France |
.no | Norway |
.va | Vatican
City |
| .gr | Greece |
.nz | New
Zealand |
.yu | Yugoslavia |
| .hk | Hong
Kong |
.pl | Poland |
.za | South |
How Do I Know If My Search Results Are Worthwhile?
Some key things to look for:
Read the disclaimer or “Legal
Information.” Is the site for entertainment only?
Read “About Us” or other information about any sponsoring organization.
Perform a "WHOIS" look-up on
Register.com.
Last updated date. How old is the information?
Who wrote / posted it? Is the author an authority, or a crank?
Does he or she give a name or qualifications?
Are there a lot of spelling and/or grammar errors? (There may be false
information as well.)
For more information on web site evaluation, see Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators at http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/eval.html
If you don’t want to bother evaluating your search results, then use a directory such as Yahoo!, etc.
The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20) only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.
Why Evaluate Web Sites?
1. Digital editing makes fraud, other misinformation easier to produce.
Question: Which picture is real, which has been manipulated on the Internet?
Answer: The top picture is the original photo, the bottom picture was digitally edited.
Read the New York Times article.
The above photographs have been reproduced from the New York Times article (Janofsky, Michael. "McCain Fights Old Foe Who Now Fights Kerry." New York Times 14 February 2004, late ed.: A15) only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.
2. The Internet has no
Editor
Question:
Is this a good site for research on MLK?
Who hosts this site?
Answer: This is not a
good site for research.
It is hosted by Stormfront, a white supremacist group.
Question: How do I
find out who hosts a
site?
Answer: Go to Register.com and perform a
WHOIS
lookup.
Bedford Middle School does not endorse the views of Stormfront, nor any other hate group. This site is used as an example of biased web pages and shown for educational purposes only.
Updated October 21, 2005 by Rita Hennessey, Media Specialist.
